tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131123452011-04-21T17:43:06.541-05:00A monthly article highlighting an important point about effective marketing, public relations, customer service, or leadership.Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comBlogger441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-42575393996305445712009-03-13T08:13:00.003-05:002009-03-13T08:27:08.502-05:00

4 ways a white paper helps you sellDear GetMoreCustomers reader: What's a white paper--and why should you care? Good question. You're out there trying to run your business, and in the current economic climate that may be a more-than-usually challenging job. So who has time to develop another marketing tool? There are several reasons smart

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-72082978861962358312008-11-12T14:01:00.007-06:002008-12-09T19:35:37.497-06:00

What's new in marketing--and 7 things you can't forget"There's nothing new under the sun." We've all heard this quote—perhaps uttered by a cynic about some new idea. Attributed to Ambrose Bierce, here's the full original: "There is nothing new under the sun, but there are lots of old things we don't know." - Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary (1842 - 1914)Obviously, he wasn't implying that

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-80807205503036738542008-02-11T21:14:00.000-06:002008-02-11T21:18:22.753-06:00

Are you your own CMO? Top 3 mistakes CMOs makeDear GetMoreCustomers reader:Even high-priced marketing execs can get derailed when it comes to finding time to learn new things. For small to medium-size enterprises, where you're usually your own Chief Marketing Officer, you're even more likely to face that dilemma.All marketing officers operate in the shadow both of quarterly numbers and of the

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-69453777552552043492007-12-24T08:42:00.000-06:002008-01-06T09:56:42.733-06:00

In-house email list messy? Shape it up - Bonus: Why CEOs blog for businessDear GetMoreCustomers reader: Are you sending your precious email messages to a bunch of people who couldn't care less? If you want to get more out of your email marketing, and make your clickthrough statistics more meaningingful, follow these suggestions to clean out the "dead" names from your in-house list.Check

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-40228676664135192832007-09-11T09:42:00.000-05:002007-09-11T09:47:10.174-05:00

5 tips for beefing up online marketing responseDear GetMoreCustomers reader:Okay, you have a presence online, and the website is looking good. But you're hoping to get a little more action from it. What can you do? Here are a few tips:Give visitors a couple of options for interacting with you. If your main hope is that visitors convert to buyers, remember people seldom take action the first time

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-49593472403298458912007-09-11T09:13:00.000-05:002007-09-11T09:33:35.762-05:00

Great products aren't enough. Your customers need more.Dear GetMoreCustomers Reader:If you sell commodities in the marketplace, you run a special risk. More than any purveyor of services or customized solutions, you can be lulled into forgetting that good products aren't everything. Your customers' needs and desires can change overnight—and if you’re not listening, your competitors will be glad

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-4244175987764326682007-07-01T16:42:00.001-05:002007-07-01T17:00:47.651-05:00

2 secrets to making your customers happyDear GetMoreCustomers Reader:Stephen Covey said it to great applause. That you're most effective when you properly prioritize your time. And the way I remember it, his proposition seemed intellectual and complex...that big box divided into four sections with all those pages of explanation for each! But the gist was, Secret #1---do important and urgent

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1171842461408751272007-02-18T17:30:00.000-06:002007-02-18T17:53:15.480-06:00

How do your customers FEEL? Ignore at your own riskDear GetMoreCustomers reader:You've heard about CRM. Customer Relationship Management. It comes in flavors, of course, but they all involve somehow measuring what the customer does and using what you learn to become more efficient about getting money out of them.Okay, maybe you feel okay about that--maybe it seems like a smart business decision.

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1164900472133140802006-11-30T09:22:00.000-06:002006-11-30T09:28:29.976-06:00

You and the web revolutionDear GetMoreCustomers Reader:There's a revolution going on.In case you haven't seen the signs (and who outside the tech industry has time to watch?), you might not realize that the Internet is growing up. Like a teenager winning over her parents on a too-early curfew, the web is working its way towards a new maturity in which increasingly users themselves are

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1163429341207633072006-11-13T08:43:00.000-06:002006-11-19T20:37:23.983-06:00

Power up your print ads--5 tips for driving readers to your siteDear GetMoreCustomers Reader:Your website is your living, breathing contact with your prospects and customers. Meaning--it's fluid, it's alive, it can change almost instantly to reflect your thoughts. It's the only place your visitors can have an interactive experience with your company. It's the only place you can have an ongoing

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1158633679225640532006-09-18T21:39:00.000-05:002006-09-18T21:54:48.860-05:00

Let your customers READ and HEAR your wordsDear GetMoreCustomers Reader:Summer's done. Are you thinking of refreshing something about your business this time of year? Maybe the changing leaves remind you of new beginnings (school!). Or if you're a gardener, maybe you think of endings and of long periods of rest and regeneration-to-come.Either way, as the days of heat and sun wear gradually away (

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1154633026738364792006-08-03T14:12:00.000-05:002006-08-09T18:41:54.610-05:00

3 questions for getting deeper into your target marketsDear GetMoreCustomers Reader:Today, with competitors' information instantly available to your prospects via the Internet, it's easy to miss the fact that your customer may be calling other people for solutions you can provide--because your marketing isn't adequately reflecting how comprehensive your services are.With SEO (search engine

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1149860336192274952006-06-09T08:11:00.000-05:002006-06-19T16:54:16.930-05:00

Getting more efficient--natural solutions kind to botttom lineDear GetMoreCustomers reader,A gecko's feet. Bird wings and heads. A coral reef fish's body. What do these things have to do with business? Try: "Inspiration for efficiency."As I've noted a couple of times recently in my bioscience blog, medicine is turning ever more readily to seeking answers within nature. Stem cells--by

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1144703892780466592006-04-10T16:16:00.000-05:002006-08-09T20:13:38.230-05:00

Finding your True Voice--and 3 ways to use itDear GetMoreCustomers reader:If you write your own marketing materials, you might occasionally run into a wall when you're coming up with content or looking for a fresh approach. When the muse deserts you, the options are simple:- Write something bad- Don't write anything at all--and miss the marketing opportunity- Consult the budget and hire

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1141769327490889662006-03-07T16:08:00.000-06:002006-03-07T16:08:47.516-06:00

Managers: Are you doing what really works?Evidence-based. That's the term the medicos use these days to denote that they're using treatments and approaches that reflect the latest research about what works.If you're anything like me, you probably thought that your doctor already was always using the treatments that were known to work. The truth is that most doctors don't have the time to study up

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1141769289496648392006-03-07T16:07:00.000-06:002006-03-07T16:12:50.610-06:00

Simple genius - Drucker on being a managerFor more than 50 years he stunned the business world with his observations and admonitions. Born in Germany, he studied economics, journalism and law and, to escape the tidal wave of Nazism, came to the United States in 1933 as a professor and a freelance writer [fascinating occupation, that].In the more-than-60 times the Harvard Business Review invited

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1141769222666399542006-03-07T16:06:00.000-06:002006-03-07T16:13:55.126-06:00

Want employees to be your best business developers? Forget lunchI love this story, so I'm going to share it with you. Have you ever been to an Outback Steakhouse? I think I was there once quite a few years ago (surprisingly, it's been around for closing on two decades now), and I don't remember wanting to run right back or anything. But today the chain is one of the most popular in America--a

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1141769157780921322006-03-07T16:05:00.000-06:002006-03-07T16:05:57.783-06:00

Saving on healthcareIn the wake of a radio news report yesterday that a secret memo was found circulating in WalMart executive circles that said managers were to make sure every WalMart job involved physical labor of some kind so that no unhealthy people would apply for work--and thus save the company money on health insurance costs--this just in: an extensive report in the Harvard Mental Health

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1126882296573710882005-09-16T09:48:00.000-05:002006-03-06T09:58:55.703-06:00

For manager roles, it pays to think loose and easyThe term "continuous improvement" has a long and honorable history in Japan. But it's still not totally ingrained into American business leaders' consciousnesses, says an article in a recent Harvard BusinessReview about how Toyota trains its leaders. And no wonder. Toyota spends weeks and weeks teaching new managers to see every part of any

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1122906620853356442005-08-01T09:17:00.000-05:002006-03-06T08:53:19.646-06:00

Your site's getting found? Good - but don't stop there!Congratulations! You're on Google Page 1 for your selected search phrase. You're getting prospects in droves (hey, here comes another one!). Now what? Whether you paid a lot of money for search optimization or you're winging it, it's always important to ask these questions: How long will he stay once he gets to my site? Will she contact us?

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1117557840606583832005-05-31T11:39:00.000-05:002006-03-06T08:46:55.536-06:00

Resistance is futile - embrace change!Change. It's a constant in life, and no less so in our businesses. Resisting change--whether out of fear or just plain laziness--usually wastes a lot of energy that you're probably better off using to embrace the new trend and move ahead. Good example is the real estate industry. The National Association of Realtors is proposing to file a lawsuit to block

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116858587158911792005-05-03T09:27:00.000-05:002005-05-24T09:54:59.216-05:00

Vertical search will change the SEO gameVertical search? Just when we got used to the idea of having local search (where you ask the search engine to look for, say, only printing companies located in a 5-mile radius), along comes this new idea for focusing your search by industry.It could change the rules of the game.You know that, with 95% of people online using them, you can't ignore search

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116860398345629342005-03-01T09:41:00.000-06:002005-05-24T10:48:07.780-05:00

Predict how your marketing efforts will work--yes, it's possible!What if you could test your marketing plans ahead of time? Talk about saving time and money... The idea feels like science fiction--prefiguring the far-distant future when you and I will be dust, and our great-grandchildren will be running the world. These days, who has the time or resources to run statistical comparisons for every

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116861471882980782005-02-01T10:11:00.000-06:002005-05-24T09:56:01.840-05:00

Employees creating company values? You're kidding!Success is sweet. You and your colleagues and staff have worked hard to get where you are. Why not just relax and enjoy it? Because sitting on your laurels can lead to a crippling lack of nimbleness, as IBM found out when the market shifted out from under it back in the 90s. Let's talk about what they're doing, and what you can learn from it about

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116946386636354952004-12-01T09:42:00.000-06:002005-05-24T09:53:40.030-05:00

6 ways NOT to encourage creativityCreativity is the sexy part of your work. It's what happens when you're turned on--true for everyone in every kind of job--and when that happens, you tend to come up with solutions, even for very tough problems.So why don't we have more of it in our businesses? If it's so valuable to successful operations, why do so few seem to show it?Unfortunately, it's often

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116862226536690292004-11-01T10:19:00.000-06:002005-05-24T10:53:44.270-05:00

Where does greatness come from? Going from good to great--7 must-havesFierce, but humble - the unlikely seeds of greatness?What makes a company great? When such questions are studied deeply over a long time, the answers are often surprising. And this answer is no exception: it has a lot to do with the character of the company's leaders. You’ve probably heard about the study done a few years ago

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116862397755665352004-09-01T10:31:00.000-05:002005-05-24T09:57:35.103-05:00

Introducing WriteBytes4You.com - Professional writing solutions for when you need "just a little help"

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116863088898904402004-08-01T10:41:00.000-05:002005-05-24T10:01:32.403-05:00

Enchantment in the workplace? Hey, this is business! "Should you care if your employees care about your brand?"The word enchantment in the same sentence with "business"? Yes, hear me out. We're all human beings--whether we're the hard-nosed, driven kind of business owner/executive, or simply the hard-working guy or gal who shows up faithfully to work each day. Whatever part of that world you

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116863505337019592004-06-01T10:45:00.000-05:002005-05-24T10:01:19.460-05:00

The Harvard Business Review talks about Innovation as "the" competitive advantage in a tough economy "What's innovation got to do with it?"What's innovation got to do with it? It's tough out there. While the overall business atmosphere is still one of extreme caution, and global outsourcing and other trends continue to redistribute jobs around the world, some people claim that out-innovating

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116863869449434212004-05-01T10:52:00.000-05:002005-05-24T10:02:49.303-05:00

Don't make your readers work for your message. "Make everything as simple as it can be," said Albert Einstein, "but not simpler"... "Simple is good -- and it gets results"Simplicity... Seems elusive in our complex world, doesn't it?"Make everything as simple as it can be," said Albert Einstein, "but not simpler."That's a broad statement--and when used as a guide in marketing--one that carries

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116864151754137962004-04-01T10:57:00.000-06:002005-05-24T10:03:25.023-05:00

Leverage the true power of the Internet, people come looking for you... "It pays to get discovered...""It pays to get discovered." As in "found," that is, not the credit card. Why, you may ask? Well, if you're like most human beings, you tend to attach greater credibility to the things you find out for yourself than you do to what someone else tells you.So here's this: Yahoo! recently released

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116864446940507862004-03-01T11:02:00.000-06:002005-05-24T10:03:56.800-05:00

You, too, have an opposable thumb... but there's no voice like yours... "If you want more customeres, speak up!"Speech, and the opposable thumb. Amazing, isn’t it, that just two gifts are responsible for the vast chasm separating humans from other creatures? How are you using your gifts?I’m not talking about the thumb—at least not today. And though few disagree that dolphins, whales and other

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116864573299727322004-02-01T11:07:00.000-06:002005-05-24T10:04:40.156-05:00

Asking is an art. Don't take it lightly... "Ask and thou shalt receive...maybe"Your customers know what they want, right? Well, sort of...sometimes. The truth is they may not. They might know what they want to happen, but not have any idea what to do to get there. So if they don't know, how are you supposed to? Ah! The eternal question...And behold, there's the answer: questions. Do you know how

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116864728653421282004-01-01T11:10:00.000-06:002005-05-23T11:12:08.656-05:00

3 tips for building trustYou want your customers to trust you. So how can make them do that? Today many leading U.S. companies are assigning the task to marketing--with bigger budgets and newly created CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) positions, says a recent B2B news report. The hope is the new officers will help them identify new strategies that build trust and give a competitive edge. Popular

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116864813016588342003-11-01T11:12:00.000-06:002005-05-23T11:13:33.016-05:00

The future is in wireless. So say the pundits and lately, the editor of eWeek imagines the day when anyone anywhere can walk up to any terminal, any computer, any wireless, give an authentification token and access his or her own documents on his or her own computer—work on them and print them out from some generic station. The days of carrying around laptops and even handhelds are clearly

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116864858372535212003-10-01T11:13:00.000-05:002005-05-23T11:14:18.373-05:00

Who's making more money? The statistics are in. A survey in a recent edition of Information Week, the tech industry's de facto source for trends, reports that (besides those for security geeks) salaries for people in charge of finding and getting out fresh, lively, relevant web content rose far more than any others in the industry.Hint: This is a huge clue about where you ought to be thinking

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116864956785043372003-09-22T11:14:00.000-05:002005-05-23T11:15:56.786-05:00

Distributors: Old Channels, New Sales Instead of bypassing your distributors, charge up those sales channels. Keep them in the loop by communicating better via the Internet. Make sure they can get everything they need—from spec sheets to pricing to marketing materials—right from your site, quickly and painlesslyLower costs. Faster delivery of information. More sales. It all adds up to partner

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116865027649189402003-08-01T11:16:00.000-05:002005-05-23T11:17:07.650-05:00

Battle for supremacy? Sales vs. marketingOr "What the heck does 'integrated marketing communications' mean anyway?"I don't know about you, but I've observed that many companies tend to think of marketing as the poor second-cousin to sales. Often the two groups are made to squabble over scarce resources and even vie for favored status among company executives. After all, it is people who make up

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116865253206714872003-07-01T11:17:00.000-05:002005-05-23T11:21:13.820-05:00

6 steps to using direct mail effectively – even in a web worldWeb marketing is great. But people need to know about your site first. Direct mail is an important way to drive traffic. If you’ve never used direct mail to promote your product/service—or you have but didn’t like the results—you may find you’ll do much better by sticking to a few basics. Yes, certainly, postcards can be effective if

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116865349288612122003-06-01T11:21:00.000-05:002005-05-23T11:22:29.290-05:00

Power marketing toolNewsletters are the single most valuable marketing tool you can employ. Fill them with content that informs your readers about issues that are important to them--especially as they relate to how you do business with them. They can be paper (costly but tend to be held longer) or electronic (inexpensive, easy to save and/or quote from). Format doesn't affect how valuable they

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116865414708914492003-05-22T11:22:00.000-05:002005-05-23T11:24:04.366-05:00

Techno-possibleIt occurs to me that technology is playing a big part in some huge shifts going on in our world today—some seemingly negative and others positive. But maybe negative and positive are judgment terms and we don’t really need them.First computers saved us all hundreds of hours every year in mundane tasks. Then, they took away thousands of blue collar jobs. First the Internet created

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116865494727001672003-05-15T11:24:00.000-05:002005-05-23T11:25:16.380-05:00

Multi-sensual marketingJust completed work on a video message for one of Cleveland's fine companies to mark their winning of the NorTech Award for Innovation. Marketing with a video message can be a very powerful tool for enforcing your brand (or your name if you're an author) when it depicts the true spirit of your company or your book. With the right script, the right talent, the right director

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116865606679813332003-05-01T11:25:00.000-05:002005-05-23T11:26:46.680-05:00

Choose your customersBet you didn't think you could do that, right? Well, we all get into that frame of mind sometimes. But here's the thing: you can turn the price-motivated customer into the other kind: the relationship customer. It's all in how you treat the people you deal with.Even if you think that you or your salespeople are not the perfect personalities to make every prospect feel

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112345.post-1116865689401649572003-04-01T11:26:00.000-06:002005-05-23T11:28:09.403-05:00

Headlines are criticalArt is about emotions. Marketing is an art. It's ALL about appealing to the emotions of your customers. And the first thing you have to do--especially if they don't yet know you--is get their attention with a headline. First tip on how to write an effective one:#1 -- Find out what your customers care about. Make your headline speak to that. Don't talk about how great you or

Barbara Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202170809747136337noreply@blogger.com