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In this issue:

1) Tip of the Week

2) FEATURE ARTICLE: How To Use Marketing and Sales To Explode Your Home Business - Part II - by Sean M. Lyden

3) CLASSIFIEDS

4) FREE Resources

5) POWERQUOTE

6) MANAGEMENT MINUTE: Personal Balance and Superior Performance by Jack D. Deal

If you'd like to read previously ran tips and features, go to http://netcheckspayroll.com/newsletter.html

"Tip of the Week"

Today's feature article is a continuation from last week. If you missed it, go to <http://netcheckspayroll.com/BCWv2issue37.html> for Part I.

Home Business Magazine contains volumes of priceless information for the small business owner. Such a great resource definitely warrants a bookmark and an entry in your daytimer. If you want to gain an edge on the competition, try to set aside regular time for professional reading: <http://www.homebusinessmag.com/default.asp?AffID=30000796&Page=X>

...continued from last week

How To Use Marketing and Sales To Explode Your Home Business - Part II by Sean M. Lyden

Catching Clients With The Web

Imagine! You can have a salesperson working for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week Ñ even while you sleep Ñ for nearly pennies a day. A web site and effective use of e-mail can make your small-time, home-based operation into a major international force Ñ truly putting you on a level playing field with the big companies. And now with web page design software available, getting a web site up and running by yourself has never been easier.

How can you best use cyber-technology to boost your business image and profits? See Jeffrey Spencer's article, "Cyber Malls: 7 Criteria for Selecting a Successful Provider," http://www.homebusinessmag.com/hbm%2Dbizrprts/cybermal.htm and "E-mail: The Most Important Online Communication Tool in Your Marketing Toolbox" by Terry Williams http://www.homebusinessmag.com/hbm%2Dbizrprts/twi10v1.htm

Direct-Mail Marketing

For the price of a stamp, you can hone in on almost any target market, be as detailed or brief as you wish, and expect relatively high response. "All other forms of marketing can help you immensely," comments Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the best-selling Guerrilla Marketing titles, "but direct marketing can help you more." What can direct-mail marketing empower you to do?

¥ Generate inquiries with potential clients. Mailing lists targeted to high probability contacts, home-based business owners can generate interest in their product or service. Following up the direct mail-letter with a telephone call or personal meeting will increase your chances of closing the sale.

¥ Maintain communication with current clients. So many businesses, particularly larger ones, neglect ongoing client communication. Contact gets to be centered only on conducting business. Home-based businesses can bridge this gap with a letter in the mail.

Making Direct Mail Work

Here are the time-honored tips for effective direct mail (See also Hilton Johnson's article, "Ace Components of Good Direct Marketing," http://www.homebusinessmag.com/hbm%2Dbizrprts/ace%2Dcomp.htm

¥ Mail to a person. Avoid mailing blindly to a company. If you cannot get an actual contact, address the letter to the appropriate department or title (i.e. Marketing Director).

¥ Grab the reader's attention. You have about five seconds to generate interest before the letter joins today's junk mail in the trash. Use headlines and highlight benefits.

¥ Write the way you speak; maintain a conversational tone to your letter.

¥ Start the sales process. In most cases, direct mail is used to start the sales process with a new or present client. Make it easy to continue with the sale, such as explaining what to do to learn more about the product (i.e. phone number to call).

¥ Future Action. As the direct letter starts the sales process, show the recipient how he or she can take further action.

¥ Study your audience. Learn as much as you can about your prospect before sending the letter. You will come across as having the reader's best interest in mind.

¥ Follow-up. Follow up. Follow up! Often four or five letters are needed to clinch the sale or generate a telephone response.

Techniques for Designing a Direct Mailer

¥ Use the estimated date that the recipient will receive the mail

¥ Use first names for the "Dear" block.

¥ Within the first few sentences of the letter describe key benefits, mention any businesses or points of contact who you can reference, and explain your purpose for writing.

¥ Deliver credibility by including customer testimonials. You want to show the recipient why he or she should continue to read your letter.

¥ Provide a strong incentive for the recipient to act.

¥ Ask for action.

¥ Include a guarantee (if soliciting for a direct sale)

¥ Reference any enclosures you have in the envelope, such a brochure or flyer.

¥ Postscripts (P.S.): Use postscripts to maximum effect. Postscripts almost always get read, and provide an excellent place to make a written offer.

Tele-Power!

The telephone is an often overlooked tool for home-based marketing success. You can qualify prospects, generate interest in your business and even close sales Ñ all with the touch of a few buttons. Imagine how much time and money you can save when you use the telephone to your advantage.

Generating Incoming Telephone Calls

If a prospect calls you first, the chances of you closing the sale greatly increase. So how do you get the phone ringing?

¥ Create an incentive, such as offering a benefit for making a call.

¥ Have a toll-free number. This can increase your response rate by 30-700%. However, if you're dealing exclusively with local clients, a toll-free number is not necessary.

¥ Use telephone numbers that are easy to remember.

¥ Find ways to get people to hold-on to your telephone number (magnetic stick-ons, memo pads, business cards, pens, etc.).

Maximizing Telephone Calls

Making calls takes time Ñ and as you know Ñ time is money. How do maximize you profit potential with your phone time?

¥ Call only prospects who are pre-qualified, either through being a referral, a response to a direct mailer or other marketing promotion, having a "gatekeeper" to whom you can refer, etc.

¥ Know who you are trying to reach. If you have to ask for a department head, such as the Director of Sales, you are not targeted enough for home-based telephone sales.

¥ Ask the caller if it is a good time to call. Besides making sure that you do not irritate the prospect, you will appear considerate.

¥ Be specific and get to the point. When you reach the client, state the reason why you are calling within the first 30 seconds.

¥ Establish a relationship with the prospect before making the sales pitch.

¥ Keep the sales process moving.

Telephone Tact

You have one chance to make a good first impression, increasing your chances of a sale down the road. Here's how to do it on the telephone:

¥ Answer the phone. Your telephone advantage as a home-based entrepreneur is that the client can reach you, the decision maker, without having to cut through secretaries and other buffers found in larger companies. You can't do that if your phone is busy or rolls into voice mail. Put callers on hold Ñ no more than 15 seconds Ñ to take call-back messages from other incoming calls. If a call goes to voice mail, call that person back immediately. Keep phone conversations brief. If using a Personal Information Manager (PIM) on your computer, time the sales call.

¥ Be goal oriented. Know what you want to accomplish and what information you need before you pick up the phone.

¥ Speak slowly, concisely and clearly. Avoid rambling.

¥ Be enthusiastic. The biggest hurdle to staying enthusiastic is making numerous phone calls at one time. Pace your phone calls out, a little bit each day.

¥ Speak in terms of benefits, not features.

¥ Solicit feedback but avoid direct questions. Keep inquiries open-ended so that the caller has the option to make answers if he or she feels comfortable doing so.

¥ Thank the person for their time.

¥ Follow-up with a letter. Computerized form letters can be easily personalized and even started while you are talking with the person on the telephone.

Tantalizing Testimonials

Satisfied customers can be one of your best sales forces. Request that they write a testimonial on their letterhead. Include these in advertisements to lend more credibility to your offer and in a professional portfolio to show prospective clients during a sales presentation.

You may also want to request permission from a client to have prospects call that person about your products and services. This shows that you build relationships with your clients and you are confident in the quality of what you offer. (see "Add a Personal Touch to Dealing With Customers") http://www.homebusinessmag.com/hbm%2Dbizrprts/personal.htm

Network To Boost Your Net Worth

Use networking to leverage existing business contacts into new customers. Networking is particularly critical in local service businesses. For certain types of specialized professional consulting fields, such as engineering or accounting, networking makes the difference between success and failure.

Start with your family and friends and expand into business, civic and even political groups. If your company has a local focus, build relationships within the Chamber of Commerce.

Free Marketing! Public Relations And Publicity

Favorable publicity in mass media is an excellent way to build credibility in the marketplace. But how do you get media people to notice you? Think of how you can make your business newsworthy. What kind of "hook" will generate interest with journalists? Then consider the perspective of the audience. What kind of story will interest them?

To achieve results, public relations often requires long-term persistence. Spend time to evaluate and compile a list of the best candidates likely to print or report on your business. For example, if your local newspaper tends to focus on regional and national business activities, then to send them a news releases on your business will probably be a waste. A smaller community newsletter is a better publicity option.

Press Release Power

Unless your business is new and unique, the most common way to generate publicity is to weave a human interest story around your business. For example, write a press release that tells the trials and tribulations of starting up the business.

You often have to submit several versions of your press release to the same media representatives, such as a local business editor. Try to develop at least some telephone familiarity with the individual with whom you are trying to gain publicity.

The best tactic to capitalize on press releases is to start small with your local newspapers and newsletters. Talk personally with the editors. Upon getting a local press release printed, use it to put together a new press release to submit to larger publications, perhaps even a national one.

The objective of a press release is to get a news editor to report on your business activity. Keep in mind that the editor's goal is to appeal to the widest cross section of their readership. Therefore:

¥ Get to the Point. The press release must be able to be read and comprehended in less than a minute

¥ Watch the current events. What are the hot topics? What are people talking about? Try to weave your press release around a current event.

¥ Be an Expert. The way people usually become experts in any field is that they have received publicity that recognizes them as an expert. (For example, a professional consultant gets written up in his or her respective professional journal.) Determine on what you can be an expert and then sell yourself as that authority. It works.

¥ Provide Facts and Data. News editors build credibility for their stories by weaving in facts and figures. If you can provide credible information, your chances increase dramatically of being included in a news story.

¥ Form a Group. The news media love to report on the activities of new organizations, because new groups are of natural source of interest to readers.

Get the most mileage out of any favorable publicity that comes your way. Publicity is a game that builds upon itself. Small press releases bag the bigger ones.

Broadcast Your Business Ñ For Free

Although not common for home-based entrepreneurs, radio and TV can offer a way for a home-based business to gain exposure. See Gregory J.P. Godek's article, "14 Tips for Promoting Your Book on TV and Radio" http://www.homebusinessmag.com/hbm%2Dbizrprts/promoting.htm

Penetrate the Market with a Service Edge

Any seasoned business person knows that it costs five times more to sell to a new prospect than to an existing client. Studies show that each satisfied customer will spread the good word about your business to at least one other person. On the flip-side: a dissatisfied customer will complain to between five and ten potential customers. Your mission in getting customer referrals is to turn passive satisfied customers into actively enthusiastic supporters who will promote your business. The best way to do this is through superior performance, and it goes beyond just providing a product or service:

¥ Deliver your product in a timely manner, always beating the deadline.

¥ Solve your customer's problems. This means going beyond what they tell you to discover new problems that they need to conquer.

¥ Seek out questions and provide intelligent answers.

¥ Maintain regular contact with the customer. Don't let more than six months slip by without dropping a customer a quick note or phone call.

¥ Follow up. After you have delivered a product and service and have been paid, follow-up with a call to ensure everything is still OK. Often a disgruntled customer will fester like a cancer, without having the nerve to talk with you about their dissatisfaction. Follow-up calls facilitate constructive dialog to smooth over any problems.

¥ Long-term perspective. Work to establish a long-term relationship with customers.

¥ Act immediately on complaints. Jump on any sign of dissatisfaction by your clients. This requires "active listening" and the ability to read behind the lines, because most people have difficulties confronting someone when they are dissatisfied. But they have no problem gossiping with your other customers about their complaints.

¥ Personalize your service. Treat the customer as if they are family.

¥ Walk away from business if it is in the customer's best interest. Forgoing a sale that is not right for your potential client is one of the most powerful ways to generate favorable word-of-mouth publicity.

The Close

Whether you're just launching your home business or have been building one for years, don't allow lack of information keep you from achieving your financial dreams. Study your marketing options and decide which ones will best position you for long-term success. HBM

--------------------------------------------------------------

Originally Published at http://www.homebusinessmag.com/

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Personal Balance and Superior Performance by Jack D. Deal

Peter Drucker, arguably the most knowledgeable management expert on earth, made the following statement: "The single greatest challenge facing managers in the developed countries of the world is to raise the productivity of knowledge and service workers. This challenge, which will dominate the management agenda for several decades, will ultimately determine the competitive performance of companies."

In other words, Drucker is saying that knowledge, service and skill may not be enough - the key is how to transform these aptitudes and skills into production. In recent years management students have attributed a strong influence on superior performance to what may loosely be called 'personal balance'. The premise is those owners, managers and employees with personal balance in their lives are more productive. The implication is that if an individual has their personal life under a certain degree of 'control', it allows them to be optimally effective in the workplace. The flip side of the equation is the workplace allows employees to, in the vernacular, 'have a life'.

Accurately defining personal balance is about as easy as defining attitude or personality. In the area where I live personal balance means successfully juggling home and work. As with any balancing act there are two sides of the equation. The simplest way to view this is a personal life and work life.

For example, on the personal side, if a manager or employee is a severe alcoholic then the alcohol will eventually effect work performance. Hangovers, the urge for a drink, memory loss, etc., will all contribute to a reduced performance. Given enough drink and enough time, brain function will be impaired. Drinking on the job will be a probable result if treatment is not sought. Most of us have seen the devastating effects of alcohol and intuitively know something is very wrong with the individual. Obviously the personal balance is out of whack and productivity diminished.

Another example... on the work side, some managers and employees can be classified as 'workaholics'. The implication is they come early, stay late and if given the keys may in fact be found at work anytime. Workaholics feel their self worth is defined by work. (How many of us describe ourselves as the work we do? "I am a lawyer, teacher, business consultant.") When work is badly skewed in one's life then the balance goes awry. When we look at workaholics we often find miserable personal lives - hence the individual's perception they are their work. Their personal life is miserable and they often do not want to go home. If the work allows them to afford a bigger house then it often comes at the expense of a broken home.

Alcoholism and workaholism are extremes but they help us get a sense of what is balance. Unless you are a workaholic or alcoholic it is easy to see and understand these extremes - don't work too much and don't drink too much. If only personal balance were that easy.

Unfortunately it is not. We are complex beings with complex sets of attitudes and behaviors. This diversity is the spice of life but it also makes living complex and at times a priorities juggling act. While we can say that too much alcohol and too much work are obvious negatives, we run into gray areas quickly once we get beyond the obvious.

Unfortunately there is no easy way - others may give their input but they cannot ultimately know 'what makes us tick'. And since we are complex individuals we cannot just copy what others do. It does not work. For instance, some people like to go to work, punch a clock, do a repetitive task, punch a clock and go home. Many employees - perhaps more than we think - feel this way. Others need a sense of satisfaction, challenge and accomplishment. The Yerkes psychological study showed that many people need an 'edge', something that stimulates and challenges. In fact, frustration caused by boredom is not only desirable but also necessary for many.

The key is understanding your own dynamics and developing your own personal balance. For instance, some of my personal balance dynamics are: work early, work hard, go for what is challenging, create and innovate, accomplish difficult goals and learn at every possible moment. I like to quit mid to late afternoon, go home, be with my family and forget work as much as possible. Take at least one day a week off and go hiking, watch a movie, eat out, etc. These are my dynamics. When I noticed several months back that my balance was still out of whack I took a vacation.

Is my balance perfect? Of course not. Does it work for me? Usually. I remain highly productive with a satisfying personal life.

Will my formula work for you? Probably not. But like Drucker said if you are responsible for the competitive performance of your company you have to be interested in raising productivity. Once you have figured out your own personal balance you will notice a positive change. If you are managing others, encourage them to do the same.

The productivity and future of your company may well depend on it!

Jack D. Deal is owner of Deal Consulting in Santa Cruz, California 831-457-8806. Related articles may be found at http://www.dealconsulting.com

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