Category: entrepreneur

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USING A PRESS RELEASE FOR FREE PUBLICITY

Product publicity is the “secret pathway” to business success
everyone wants. In simple terms, product publicity is a kind of
advertising that costs you nothing, yet brings in the orders for
you.

Regardless of what kind of business you are operating, you
should want, and strive for, as much publicity for your business
and your products or services, as possible. After all, it’s
“free advertising” that is essential to the growth of your
business. However, your publicity efforts should be well
thought out, and pre-planned for maximum results.

The first, and basic form of obtaining publicity is through what
is known as the press or news release. This is generally a one
page story about your business, your product/service or an
event/happening related to your business that is about to, or
has recently occurred. These publicity stories are generally
“shot-gunned” to all the various media: local newspapers, radio
and TV, and trade publications.

Problem number one is getting the people to whom you’ve sent
these publicity stories, to use them – publish or broadcast
them. And this leads us back to the “right way ” of writing
them and sending them in.

In every case, send a short cover letter addressed to the person
you want your material to be considered by. This means that
you send your story to the city editor of the newspapers; the
news directors of the radio and TV stations; and the managing
editors of the various trade publications. It will do you no
good whatsoever, to send your material to the advertising,
circulation or business managers – describing how you’re a
long-time advertiser, subscriber or listener. The most
important thing is that you make contact with the person who has
the final say as to what is to be published or broadcast, and at
the bottom line – this person’s use of your material will
somehow make him a “hero” to his or her readers, viewers or
listeners.

The cover letter should be a short note. Go to a paper supplier
– tell him you want a hundred or so sheets of good bond paper –
8 1/2 by 11 preferably in a pastel color such as blue or ivory
– and that you want this paper cut into quarters, giving you a
grand total of 400 sheets of note paper. “From the desk of…”
note sheets are too elaborate until the people you’re contacting
get to know you – first time around, and until they use your
material, don’t use these semi-formal note sheets.

On this note sheet, begin with the date across the top – skip a
couple of spaces and then quickly tell the recipient of the
note that the attached material is new and should be of real
interest to his or her readers, viewers or listeners. We advise our
dealers and distributors of MONEY MAKING MAGIC – our regular
publication for serious wealth builders and extra income seekers
– to send the following note to the editors and news directors
of the media in their areas:

“Here’s something that ‘s new, and for a change, truly helpful,
to people trying to cope with inflation – the soaring costs of
living – and those engaged in building extra income businesses
of their own. This should be of real value – interest – to your
readers. Please take a look – any questions, or if you need
more info, give me a call at: (503) 666-5824…” Then, of
course, you skip about four spaces, type your name, your
business name, and your address – sign your name above where
you’ve typed it, and staple this note in the upper right hand
corner of your news release. This note should be typed and
double-spaced.

So now, you’ve got a cover letter, and you know who to send it
to. Type up one such note and take it to a near-by
quick-print shop. Have them copy the note 4 times, paste these
4-copies onto one sheet of paper, print 50 to 100 copies, and
cut the paper into individual notes, all for less that $10. Do
not try to save money by photo-copying or Xeroxing – a
photo-copy is a photo-copy is a photo-copy, and will not do the
job for you…

Now you need the actual publicity release, which also must be
“properly” written if you expect it to be used by the media.
Above all else, there’s a proper form or style to use, plus the
fact that it must be typed, double-spaced, and short – about a
half page in total length.

About an inch from the top of the paper, with an inch and a half
margin on each side of the paper; from the left hand margin,
type in all capital letters: PRESS RELEASE: Then, underline
these words. Immediately following the colon, but not in all
capital letters, put in the date. Always set the date forward
by at least one day after the day you intend to mail the release.

On the same line, but on the right hand side of the page, and in
all capital letters, write the words, FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Underline this, and immediately below, but not in all capital
letters, type your name – your phone number – and your address.

Skip a couple of spaces, then in all capital letters – centered
between the margins – type a story headline, and underline it.
Skip a couple of spaces, and from the left hand margin, all in
capital letters, type the words, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: From
there on, it’s the news or publicity story itself.

You can write the headline before the story, and then a story to
fit the headline – or the story before the headline, and then a
headline to fit the story – either way, it’s basically the same
as writing a space ad or a sales letter. You attract attention
and interest with the headline and fill in the details with your
story.

Here’s an example of the headlines we use on publicity blurbs
for MONEY MAKING MAGIC:

HELP IN MAKING ENDS MEET

NEW PUBLICATION FOR EXTRA INCOME SEEKERS

Notice how we continue to sell or involve the editor – His or her
readers are always looking for better ways to make ends meet,
and he/she specifically interested as to what our promise
involves… He/she wants his/her readers to “think well” of him/her for
enlightening them with this source of help, so he/she reads into the
story to find out who, what and how.

Suffice it to say that your headline, and the story you present
to the editor, must sell him/her on the benefits of your product or
service to his/her readers. Unless it specifically does this, he/she
will not use it. You must sell the first person receiving your
materials. Keep this fact uppermost in your mind as you write
it. The person you send your press or publicity release to,
must quickly see and understand how your product or service will
benefit his/her readers – thereby making him/her a hero to them – and
he/she must be assured it will do what you promise in your headline.

Come right to the point and say your product is lower in price,
more convenient to use or in what way your product or service is
useful to the people in general. It’s also a good idea to
include a complimentary sample of your product or an opportunity
for him to sample your services.

Remember, the editors receiving your information are fully aware
of your purposes – Free Advertising! They are not in the least
interested in you or your credentials – If you’ve sold them on
the benefits of your business to their readers, and they want
background details, they’ll call you. That’s why you list your
telephone number and address.

These people are busy people. They have not got the time nor
the interest in reading about your trials and tribulations or
plans for the future. They want only “a flag” that alerts them
to something new and of probable real interest to their readers.

Sell the editor first. Convince him/her that you’ve found the
better mousetrap. Show him/her that your product or service – that
your business – fills a need and/or will interest a large
segment of his/her readers, his/her viewers or listeners.

When an editor uses your publicity release, always follow-up
with a short thank you note. Never, but never send a publicity
release to an editor and then call or write demanding to know
why he/she didn’t use it, use it as you wrote it, or only gave you a
quick mention. Do this once, and that particular media will
“round-file” any further material received from you, unopened!
If your first effort is not used, then you should review the
story itself; perhaps write it from a different angle; make
sure you’re sending it to the proper person – and try again!

As stated earlier, these people are busy, with hundreds of
publicity releases passing across their desks every day – They
only have so much space or time – therefore, your material has
to stand out and in some way, fit with the information they –
the editors – want to pass along to their readers, viewers or
listeners. Regardless of your business, product, or service,
you must build your press release – write it – around that
particular angle or feature that makes it beneficial or interest
to the readers, viewer or listeners of the media you want to run
your press release. Without this special ingredient, you’re
lost before you begin!

The timing of your press release is always important. Try to
associate your press release with current events in the news. A
story on job lay-offs and increased unemployment carried in the
newspapers, on TV and radio would prompt us to get a publicity
release out to all the media on the help and opportunity offered
by MONEY MAKING MAGIC! Say there’s a deluge of chain letters
and pyramid schemes making the round – the media picks up on it
and attempts to warn the people to beware… Within 5 days, we
would get a publicity release out, explaining the availability
of our report on chain letters and pyramid schemes – a report
that explains everything from A to Z – who’re the winners and
who’re the real losers.

There’s another kind of timing also to keep in mind…
Publication deadlines. For best results, always try to time it
so your material reaches the editor in time for the Sunday
paper. This is because that’s when the papers have their
greatest circulation; the most space is available and the
people, the most time to read the paper.

For articles you’d like to appear in the Sunday paper, you’ll
generally have to get your release in at least nine days prior
to the date of publication. If you’re in doubt, call and ask
about the deadline date.

IN SUMMARY:

Choose the media most likely to carry your press release.
Select those that carry similar write-ups on a regular basis.

Always use a cover letter of some kind. It pays to call ahead
to find out the name of the person you should be sending your
press release to.

Use the proper press release form, complete with a headline that
will interest the man deciding whether or not to use your item.

Be sure your press release is letter perfect – no typo’s or
misspelled words – and don’t photo-copy – always have each
letter or press release individually typed or printed.

When your item is used, send a thank you note or call the editor
on the phone and thank him/her for using your press release.

Never, but never call or write an editor demanding to know why
he/she didn’t use your press release, why he had it rewritten or cut
it short – just try, and try again!

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The Freelance Writer

An online freelance writer is someone who writes articles, eBooks, web content, newsletters, ezine, and anything else. They are paid to write up interesting, educational articles that capture their audience. They are paid to fill content on the web. All the writing that a freelance writer does is usually the buyers copyright forever. It is a very fun career if you like to write because you are always learning about new things. The greatest part of it is the fact that you get to make your own hours and work from the comfort of your own home. It is great for stay at home mothers or handicapped people or people with very busy schedules. You write on your own time as long as you finish your projects on your due date. Depending on what you write, you could get paid about 500 dollars for an eBook, not bad.

A freelance writer finds their projects many different ways, such as word of mouth or referrals, or online services. Elance is an online service where employers can post jobs for freelancers, programmers, tech support, etc. There are many sites like this one where you can go to find work, although there is usually a monthly fee you must pay to get these desirable jobs. When accepting a job, if there is no provided contract, a freelance writer should always create an informal contract describing the project, due date, fees, etc.

The work that freelance writers submit should be fresh and creative. It should NEVER be plagiarized. A freelance writer will always spell check their work and make sure it sounds great. Having a portfolio of your work is an excellent idea because it shows how great of a writer you are under varied projects. Taking some online writing classes will also keep you learning new ways to write better. Details always count so make sure you keep up to date and always write from your heart.
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HOW YOU CAN GET FREE RADIO ADVERTISING

The greatest expense you’re going to incur in conducting a
successful business is advertising.

You have to advertise. Your business cannot grow and flourish
unless you advertise. Advertising is the “life-blood” of any
profitable business. And regardless of where or how you
advertise, it’s going to cost you in some form or another.

Every successful business is built upon, and continues to thrive,
primarily, on good advertising. The top companies in the world
allocate millions of dollars annually to their advertising
budget. of course, when starting from a garage, basement or
kitchen table, you can’t quite match their advertising
efforts—at least not in the beginning. But there is a way you
can approximate their maneuvers without actually spending their
kind of money. And that’s through “P.I” Advertising.

“P.I.” stands for per inquiry. This kind of advertising is most
generally associated with broadcasting, where you pay only for
the responses you get to your advertising message. It’s very
popular–somewhat akin to bartering–and is used by many more
advertisers than most people realize. The advantages of PI
Advertising are all in favor of the advertiser because with this
kind of an advertising arrangement, you can pay only for the
results the advertising produces.

To get in on this “free” advertising, start with a loose leaf
notebook, and about 100 sheets of filler paper. Next, either
visit your public library and start poring through the Broadcast
Yearbook on radio stations in the U.S., or Standard Rate and Data
Services Directory on Spot Radio. Both these publications will
give you just about all the information you could ever want about
licensed stations.

An easier way might be to call or visit one of your local radio
stations, and ask to borrow (and take home with you) their
current copy of either of these volumes. To purchase them
outright will cost $50 to $75.

Once you have a copy of either of these publications, select the
state or states you want to work first. It’s generally best to
begin in your own state and work outward from there. If you have
a moneymaking manual, you might want to start first with those
states reporting the most unemployment.

Use some old fashioned common sense. Who are the people most
likely to be interested in your offer, and where are the largest
concentrations of these people? You wouldn’t attempt to sell
windshield de-ice canisters in Florida, or suntan lotion in
Minnesota during the winter months, would you?

At any rate, once you’ve got your beginning “target” area decided
upon, go through the radio listings for the cities and towns in
that area, and jot down in your notebook the names of general
mangers, the station call letters, and addresses. be sure to list
the telephone numbers as well.

On the first try, list only one radio station per city. Pick out
the station people most interested in your product would be
listening to. This can be determined by the programming
description contained within the date block about the station in
the Broadcasting Yearbook or the SRDS Directory.

The first contact should be in the way of introducing yourself,
and inquiring if they would consider a PI Advertising campaign.
You tell the station manger that you have a product you feel will
sell very well in his market, and would like to test it before
going ahead with a paid advertising program. You must quickly
point out that your product sells for, say $5, and that during
this test, you would allow him 50% of that for each response his
station pulls for you. Explain that you will handle everything for
him: the writing of the commercials, all accounting and
bookkeeping, plus any refunds or complaints that come in. In
other words, all he has to do is schedule your commercials on his
log, and give them his “best shot.” When the responses come in,
he counts them, and forwards them on to you for fulfillment. You
make out a check for payment to him, and everybody is happy.

If you’ve contacted him by phone, and he agrees to look over your
material, tell him thank you and promise to get a complete
“package” in the mail to him immediately. Then do just that.
Write a short cover letter, place it on top of your “ready-to-go”
PI Advertising Package, and get it in the mail to him without
delay.

If you’re turned down, and he is not interested in “taking on”
any PI Advertising, just tell him thanks, make a notation in your
notebook by his name, and go to your next call. Contacting these
people by phone is by far the quickest, least expensive and most
productive method of “exploring” for those stations willing to
consider your PI proposal. In some cases though, circumstances
will deem it to be less expensive to make this initial contact by
letter or postcard.

In that case, simply address you card or letter to the person you
are trying to contact. Your letter should be positive in tone,
straight forward and complete. Present all the details in logical
order on one page, perfectly typed on letterhead paper, and sent
in a letterhead envelope. (Rubber-stamped letterheads just won’t
get past a first glance.) Ideally, you should include a
self-addressed and stamped postcard with spaces for positive or
negative check marks in answer to your questions: Will you or
won’t you over my material and consider a mutually profitable
“Per Inquiry” advertising campaign on your station?

Once you have an agreement from your contact at the radio station
that they will look over your materials and give serious
consideration for a PI program, move quickly, getting your cover
letter and package off by First Class mail, perhaps even Special
Delivery.

What this means is at the same time you organize your “radio
station notebook,” you’ll also want to organize your advertising
package. Have it all put together and ready to mail just as soon
as you have a positive response. Don’t allow time for that
interest in your program to cool down.

You’ll need a follow-up letter. Write one to fit all situations;
have 250 copies printed, and then when you’re ready to send out a
package, all you’ll have to do is fill in the business salutation
and sign it. If you spoke of different arrangements or a specific
matter was discussed in your initial contact, however, type a
different letter incorporating comments or answers to the points
discussed. This personal touch won’t take long, and could pay
dividends!

You’ll also need at least two thirty-second commercials and two
sixty-second commercials. You could write these up, and have 250
copies printed and organized as a part of your PI Advertising
Package.

You should also have some sort of advertising contract written
up, detailing everything about your program, and how everything
is to be handled; how and when payment to the radio station is to
be made, plus special paragraphs relative to refunds, complaints,
and liabilities. All this can be very quickly written up and
printed in lots of 250 or more on carbonless multi-part snap-out
business forms.

Finally, you should include a self-addressed and stamped postcard
the radio station can use to let you know that they are going to
use your PI Advertising program, when they will start running
your commercials on the air, and how often, during which time
periods. Again, you simply type out the wording in the form you
want to use on these “reply postcards”, and have copies printed
for your use in these mailings.

To review this program: Your first step is the initial contact
after searching through the SRDS or Broadcasting Yearbook. Actual
contact with the stations is by phone or mail. When turned down,
simply say thanks, and go to the nest station on the list. For
those who want to know more about your proposal, you immediately
get a PI Advertising Package off to them via the fastest way
possible. Don’t let the interest wane.

Your Advertising Package should contain the following:
1. Cover letter
2. Sample brochure, product literature
3. Thirty-second and sixty-second commercials
4. PI Advertising Contract
5. Self-addressed, stamped postcard for station acknowledgment and
acceptance of your program.

Before you ask why you need an acknowledgment postcard when you
have already given them a contact, remember that everything about
business changes from day to day—conditions change, people get
busy, and other things come up. the station manager may sign a
contract with your advertising to begin the 1st of March. The
contract is signed on the 1st of January, but when March 1 rolls
around, he may have forgotten, been replaced, or even decided
against running your program. A lot of paper seemingly “covering
all the minute details” can be very impressive to many radio
station managers, and convince them that your company is a good
one to do business with.

Let’s say that right now you’re impatient to get started with
your own PI Advertising campaign. Before you “jump off the deep
end,” remember this: Radio station people are just as
professional and dedicated as anyone else in business—even more
so in some instances–so be sure you have a product or service
that lends itself well to selling via radio inquiry system.

Anything can be sold, and sold easily with any method you decide
upon, providing you present it from the right angle. “hello out
there! Who wants to buy a mailing list for 10 cents a thousand names?”
wouldn’t even be allowed on the air. However, if you have the
addresses of the top 100 movie stars, and you put together an
idea enabling the people to write to them direct, you might have
a winner, and sell a lot of mailing lists of the stars.

At the bottom line, a lot is riding on the content of your
commercial—the benefits you suggest to the listener, and how
easy it is for him to enjoy those benefits. For instance, if you
have a new book on how to find jobs when there aren’t any jobs.
You want to talk to people who are desperately searching for
employment. You have to appeal to them in words that not only
“perk up” their ears, but cause them to feel that whatever it is
that you’re offering will solve their problems. It’s the product,
and in writing of the advertising message about that product are
going to bring in those responses.

Radio station managers are sales people, and sales people the
world over will be sold on your idea if you put your selling
package together properly. And if the responses come in your
first offer, you have set yourself up for an entire series of
successes. Success has a “ripple effect,” but you have to start
on that first one. We wish you success!

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EBook Writing Business

If you are a savvy writer with great English grammar skills, you should consider writing eBooks. It pays very well and you can do it in the comfort of your own home. It is very simple to write up an eBook. All you need to do is have Microsoft word and the internet. Do some research first on the topic. Know everything you can know about it, read up on it and save some quotes in your favorites area. You may want to stop by the local library to pick up some books on the topic too. That will help you when writing up your eBook. EBooks should be between 50 75 pages depending on the topic and what the assignment is. After you have thoroughly researched your topic and you know a lot about it you want to create a table of contents. You want the chapters to flow freely from one thought to the other. Make sure you cover as much as you can about the topic and title each chapter, writing a few notes about what you want to write about -which you will delete later.

The next step would be just to get started on it! Start writing creatively, from your heart, not just spitting out facts on a paper. People are reading your eBook because they do not want to read and search for information located everywhere about a specific topic. They want a concise, easy to read; interesting eBook they can print out and curl on the couch with. It goes without saying that no one should ever plagiarize; not only is it unlawful, it is disrespectful.

Always spell check and edit your work by reading it when you have finished. Polish it off by organizing each chapter into an eBook. Come up with a savvy title that catches the audience. If you really enjoy this line of business, you could do this full time and quit your day job.
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HOW TO START AN ADVERTISING SPECIALTY BUSINESS

Advertising specialties are small items like book matches, pens or key chains that can be imprinted with a company, logo or slogan.

They are deductible advertising and usually given away to promote the business whose name is inscribed on them. There is almost no limit to products that can be used as advertising specialties. They can be anything the client company can afford, your sponsoring company can imprint and the customer will use.

The ideal item is useful, costs comparatively little and keeps your clients’ business name in front of the customer as long as possible.

Advertising Specialties is an ideal business to operate from home. You can market them on a route, by mail, through advertisements, by phone appointments or by personal contact. There are two main objectives in establishing yourself in this business.

The first is to let people know who you are, what you handle and where they can get hold of you.

Second, convince them that you can help them promote their business. Your experience and advertising knowledge level will increase constantly. In turn, your expanding capability will equip you to offer even better advice and more timely suggestions.

Your customers are busy business people who want to get the most of their advertising dollar and are not particularly knowledgeable in this area. As soon as your customers realize they can rely on your advice your success will be assured!

Advertising specialties include place mats, school football and baseball schedules, calendars and plastic windshield scrapers, which lend themselves well to the seasons. These give you a good opportunity to make timely and realistic suggestions to your customers.

Foe example, in August you can suggest an order of imprinted scrapers for winter and in June you can recommend an order of football schedules for fall.

These suggestions are not just a ruse to sell — they indicate you have given some though to your client’s business interests! These and thousands of other specialty items are available with organization or company (logo and message) imprints at relatively low prices.

Advertising specialty costs to the customer are in line with and frequently below other advertising methods. Although a thousand imprinted pens costs more than a single newspaper or radio ad, the message on the pen lasts as long as the pen,,, while the newspaper ad is in the trash the next day and a radio commercial is but a “fleeting word.”

Industry specialty suppliers furnish salesmen or independent dealers with instructions, catalogs, price lists and often, sales kits.

Most advertising specialty salespersons represent several companies to offer a variety of personalized or imprinted products. They show the prospective customer samples, discuss the merits of different products, promotional and advertising objectives. They quote prices, write orders and sometimes deliver and collect for the products when they come in.

In most cases, however, they just take the order and get a “down payment” (the sales commission) from the client. The supplier then ships the order direct to the customer, COD for the freight and balance due.

This system is slightly more costly due to the piecemeal shipping and COD fees, but it may be the best (especially if you have a route). When you can handle these things personally, even if it is only once in a while. You gain more trust when you can deliver and collect in person; it shows a personal interest in your customer.

As a specialty ad sales person, you are the only link between the sponsoring company and your client. Your sponsoring company does not deal directly with the public. If they tried, they would lose their salesmen as well as many of their customers because they could not deal on a person to person basis.

For beginners, it is advisable to start with one product (such as book matches) so you can simplify your learning process and accelerate building your confidence.

Try to form a business foundation without having to learn too many products, prices and methods of presentation. There is no need to go after a large clientele with your first product. Just make enough calls to gain enough experience and self-confidence, then start expanding your line.

The real secret is to knowing your customers, products and prices well. This will enable you to visualize how your products can best benefit your customers.

As the representative of your company you are the authority for that product and company to your customers. If you seem unsure of your products, prices or their application, the customer is not likely to have confidence in you, the products or the company. This means they probably won’t deal with you until you can reflect confidence!

Many retailers will try new salesperson or product to check on their quality, service and reliability. If they like what they get, they will probably increase their orders.

With just one product at first, you can learn not only the pricing, but the sales pitches and various company suggested applications faster, and your confidence will build fast. You will learn what kind of questions customers ask and gain valuable experience in handling them professionally.

When you feel you are ready, start adding products to your line. As you become better acquainted with your customers, you will soon have a good idea of what might sell in your area. Your customers will tell you their needs and preferences and most will be happy to advise you on your products and techniques.

When you add products, concentrate on those that complement what you already offer (you already their application).

For example, if you sell printed book matches, add printed pens and calendars, which involve similar applications. Later on you can add silk screen labels and wallet size calendar or self-stick football schedules for local high schools.

These are examples of items whose applications may be a little more complicated than book matches.. You should be familiar with their potential use before adding them to your line.

It is quite alright to change suppliers from time to time. When you do and the customer asks why, just explain that you found a better deal (that, they will understand).

Good specialty salespeople gradually build a full line of products, learning all about each one in turn. That’s how they can intelligently recommend realistic alternatives and suggest different promotional innovative specialty sales person can mentally adapt to his customers. The result can literally be a special plan for each individual client!

Most specialty suppliers provide their representatives with excellent support. They employ staffs of experts who keep coming up with new and better ways to market their products.

When you discover a new technique for one product, it will usually also apply to other products as well! If book matches are good for a graduate, then why not napkins or handkerchiefs? Also be alert for profitable combinations.

For example, you might try to put together a promotion to print bumper stickers supporting the school team. You might get the bank to pay for 500, the supermarket, another 500 and perhaps a few smaller orders to bring the total to 2500 (a price change). Then, you sell the local drive-in the space on the protective covering for free soda coupons (with purchase).

There are endless variations that an innovative salesperson can devise, including combining orders to take advantage of volume prices.

Those 500 bumper stickers cost nearly double per unit at the 500 rate than the 2500 rate. By paying a small copy change fee, you can have 500 stickers with the bank name; 500 more with the supermarket (etc.) as donors and still enjoy the 2500 rate. Since the bank and supermarket both pay at the 500 rate, you can make up to $200 extra profit.

An excellent advertising specialty business potential is coming events such as business anniversaries, sales promotions, birthdays, trade fairs, holidays, sports events and elections. Keep your eye on the calendar and plan well ahead to take advantage of these promising situations. Get local merchants to finance publication of school sports schedules (with their company name listed prominently).

Talk to the campaign chairman BOTH parties and political candidates as soon as they file for office.. Find out who files and when from the county, state or city clerks office.

Always be ready to help customers with ideas and techniques to help achieve their goals. Sometimes little suggestions like spraying inexpensive cardboard political signs with water repellent will make you look great!

be sure to give yourself (and your customers) enough lead-time to plan and fill orders in time for scheduled events.

Advise your customers how long it takes to get orders to be filled, and suggest allowing a little extra time in case there are any delays. If printed pens usually take three weeks, advise your customer to order about five weeks in advance if they must be available for a particular date.

Consider joining professional organizations that can alert you to additional suppliers, product and IDEAS.

Advertising Specialties Institute 9ASI – see BUSINESS SOURCES) offers distributor (salesmen) memberships for a one time fee of $75. Membership entitles you to a wide range of trade information and initial credit from member suppliers.

Most trade suppliers display their ASI number prominently in their advertisements and catalogs. Membership is limited to manufacturers and suppliers of specialty merchandise and active independent specialty people.

Going into the advertising specialty sales business is very easy. Just decide on a name for your business, get some business cards, a sales kit from a good supplier and start calling on prospective customers.

You also need reliable transportation unless you plan to operate by mail (which is not recommended at this stage). ALWAYS keep a record of where you go and who you talk to. This make each succeeding visit continuation of the previous one.

When professional specialty salespeople drive up to a business, they take a moment to refresh their memory from their route book. This is an informal record of names, major discussion topic of last time (if any), what they ordered and anything else of interest.

The idea is to appear interested enough in the customer to remember their name and the last visit! They have a separate loose leaf page for each customer and update it each visit or call. If you do this, you too will “remember” names and details of the last meeting. This is IMPRESSIVE and helps MAKE SALES!

After you have gained enough experience with advertising specialties, you might consider expanding or converting to an advertising agency or service.

Here, you would size up the client’s needs and help design and implement promotions and advertisements for them. You would charge a retainer plus a fee for each promotion and still get your commission on any advertising specialties. Needless to say, some of your specialty sales customers would be excellent prospects for your agency.

Records keeping in this business is very important. In addition to your customer notebook, you should have accurate records of all sales and commissions.

As an independent business person, the government requires you to make your own social security payments and (probably after the first year) pay your taxes quarterly. If you have someone do your taxes, they will let you know how much you need to pay each quarter and provide you with the forms to send in (they are actually short and simple).

The general rule in quarterly payments is to pay one fourth of whatever you owed at the end of last year over what your employers withheld. For business records, keep all your receipts by the month. Consider a single entry ledger, such as that described in Chapter 16 of The ULTIMATE HOME BUSINESS Manual (available for $25.00).

This type of record will let you know how you are doing, and the receipts envelopes will enable your tax person to prepare your taxes efficiently.

There are two important potential problem area to watch out for is the imprinted specialty sales field. The first is getting the orders wrong.

Sometimes, you must THINK you have accurate copy, only to discover there is a misspelled word, incorrect address or wrong date. One sure error can wipe out profits from several sales if it is your fault.

To avoid this problem, write out the copy clearly, completely and accurately on the ticket. Then ask the customer to review and sign or initial it — signifying that they have checked and approved it. When you forward the order to the company, always keep a copy of the ticket with the desired copy (never send them your only copy).

This way, if there is a problem you can easily show who was at fault. The other potential headache is getting hooked up with a bad supplier. This could be one that overcharges, doesn’t deliver on time or gets your orders mixed up. When this happens, charge suppliers — fast! Of course, we all make mistakes, so if your supplier makes an occasional error and takes immediate corrective action,,, they are probably worth keeping.

To be successful in the advertising specialty business, you must be knowledgeable and reliable.

This means that you know your customers as well as your products. This is the only way you can know how your customers can use your products to their advantage.

Being reliable is essentially keeping your word, showing up when you are expected and giving your customers honest advice.

When your customers expect you each month or week, you have passed a major milestone — because they will hold orders for you! They could not afford to do that if they weren’t sure when you might come around again.

Treat your customers right and they will appreciate it enough to be reluctant to deal with your competitors — which is your objective!

BUSINESS SOURCES

ADVERTISING SPECIALTY INSTITUTE (ASI) Bucks County Business center, 1120 Wheeler Way, Langhorn, PA 19004. Organization for specialty advertising manufacturers, distributors and sales.

KLING ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES, P.O. Box 338, Barrington, Il. Sales kits and instructions for ad salesmen.

ALEXANDER, P.O. Box 6, Lexington, KY 61753. High quality imprinted pens, marble coasters, key chains, emblems, etc.

WILKINSON-ACRES, INC.,844 Central Ave.,Kansas City, KS 66101. Advertising merchandise.

LINCOLN SPECIALTY JOBBERS, 117 Virginia Ave.,Reading, PA 19606. Wholesale specialty advertising products.

NATIONWIDE ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES CO., P.O. Box 928, Arlington, TX 76010, 817/275-2678. Advertising specialties; free sales kit; AAA1 D7B Rating; old company.

NEWTON MANUFACTURING CO.,Newton, IA 50208. Ad Specialties; free sales kit; old company.

PARKTONE PRESS, P.O. Box 539, Spring Valley, NY 10977. Wholesale calendars, ethnic selection; free sales kit.

TASCO INDUSTRIES, P.O. Box 29376, Dallas, TX 75229. Wholesale imprinted merchandise, such as baseball caps.

ALLSTATE SPECIALTIES, INC., 2895 Biscayne Blvd.,Miami, FL 33137. Wholesale calendars, pens, etc; 40% commission to specialty salesmen.

SPECIALTY ADVERTISING NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (SANA), 1145 19th St.,Washington, DC 20036. Association of specialty advertising producers. Free information.

QUILL CORPORATION,, 100 Schelter Rd.,Lincolnshire, IL 60917-4700. Office supplies.

WALTER DRAKE, 4119 Drake Bldg.,Colorado Springs, CO 80940. Short run business cards, stationery (no choice of format or colors).

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Business Dress - Women Like it or not, the first impression people get from you is your appearance. When engaged in an interview or you are already hired, you always want to look best. Clean cut, professional looking people get treated like a professional. How you dress sends specific signals to people. Lets start from head to toe for women. First of all, never wear too much jewelry or makeup. One item of jewelry is enough. A small ring on one finger, or small earrings is plenty. No big loops ladies. Makeup should be conservative, just plain powder or concealer and barely any eye makeup. No lipstick is appropriate at an interview. It is just not professional. The womans suit should be wool, linen, or cotton/polyester. Stick with navy, gray, and medium blues, at least for the first interview. As for blouses, solid colors and natural fabrics, such as cotton or silk look clean and professional. A scarf says a lot about a business woman; it is a powerful status symbol. Shoes should never be open toed and stay within 2 inch heels, nothing faddish or multicolored. The color of your shoe should be the same or darker than your skirt. Pantyhose should always be neutral skin tones, nothing outlandish, unless you are interviewing in the fashion industry. A briefcase is an excellent choice for a business woman, but dont bring along your purse too. It looks awkward trying to juggle them around. You should choose either brown or burgundy, black or navy, either one is fine. You do not want to ever distract the interviewer with your outfit, makeup or accessories. Last but definitely not least is your personal hygiene. Bad breath, dandruff, body odor, and dirty unmanicured nails do not give a good impression. When it comes to body odor, you are what you eat. If you consume a lot of garlic, onions, cilantro, and junk food, not only will it show in your skin, but it will seep through your pores. Gross. Make sure you eat a natural healthy diet so you always smell pleasant.    E e |hhhfhkVhhX 



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Hang On To Top Employees

The best way to keep your top employees is to know them better than they know themselves. Use this knowledge to create the career of their dreams, and they’ll stick to your company like glue. The new “biz-speak” for this is called Job Sculpting.

The concept of Job Sculpting as defined by career experts, Timothy Butler and James Waldroop, in the Harvard Business Review, is that good people will stay only in jobs that “fit their deeply embedded life interests—that is their long-held emotionally driven passions.”

To adopt this strategy, spend a lot of effort listening to your company stars. For each one of them, try to identify what life interests are dominant with them, and then offer them the assignments that satisfy this interest. It may mean simply adding another assignment to the existing responsibilities, or it may mean switching one set of tasks to another employee. It may even require moving your “star” employee to a different position altogether.

To learn what kind of interests you’re looking and listening for, use these 8 identifiable areas:
1. Application of technology.
2. Quantitative analysis ability.
3. Theory development and conceptual thinking.
4. Creative production.
5. Counseling and mentoring.
6. Managing people and relationships.
7. Enterprise control.
8. Influence through language and ideas.

If you have a top employee who has been working in the area of customer service, but lately seems dissatisfied, after talking with him/her you might learn they would rather be dealing with the vendors. Your star might be just the answer you’re looking for to find that latest innovative product that could be added to your stock (conceptual thinking), and employee B would rather interact with the customers. By a simple switch of responsibilities, you have two happy employees that feel they’re now contributing to your business and not just putting in time for a paycheck.

It’s always more cost effective for the business, and better for employee morale to keep your existing employees happy with their careers. It takes a toll on your business when you have to fill an empty employee spot with a newcomer who has to be trained in the way your company functions.

Time is money, and time used to train a brand new employee is the highest cost of doing business. However, the time spent by you to find out what will keep your top producers happy to be working for you – is the best investment you can make in your business.

Are You Building A Wall?

Americans throw away enough paper in a year to build a wall 12 feet high from New York City to Los Angeles. This fact is from earth911.org, a public service Website that focuses on recycling issues. Now that’s a lot of paper!

Despite the hype that computer makers fed us a few years ago, the computer has NOT decreased the paper used in most offices today. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors Clean Your Files Day Program, the average citizen uses 1 ½ pounds of paper per day. The average office employee uses 10,000 sheets of paper per year according to
the Environmental Defense Fund.

Now that’s just the figures on paper. What about the ink cartridges and cell phones that are tossed into landfills each year. No matter how you slice it, recycling today is big business.

Whether it’s glass, paper, plastic, steel, ink cartridges, computers, magazines, cardboard boxes, cell phones or another material, recycling products reduces waste and cost, and saves energy and resources. So why isn’t your business utilizing a recycling program?

Many small business owners feel overwhelmed when asked about recycling, but it needn’t be daunting because there are a lot of resources available. Many of them are just an Internet click away. Some that you might look at are:
www.earth911.org
www.epa.gov/recyclecity/
www.greenofficerecycling.com
www.obviously.com/recycle
www.nre-recycle.org
www.recyclingtoday.com

There may also be businesses nearby you that have “been there and done that” and may be willing to share advice, strategies, plans, and programs. Why reinvent the wheel when you can duplicate it?

Here are 18 steps that will help start your recycling program, and help your business become a good corporate citizen:

1. Make the decision to start. Believing that a recycling program is positive and beneficial to the business must exist as the foundation.
2. Get “buy-in” from other manage-ment and employees.
3. Decide if you need a “designated” recycling coordinator. This could be a volunteer who feels strongly about the subject.
4. Find a mentor or model. Find a business similar in size that has a successful program and ask for help.
5. Create a program plan. This should include goals and measurable objectives.
6. Know what can be recycled – what to collect and what to toss. There are regulations as to what can and cannot be recycled.
7. Understand recycling and educate the team. Tell your employees why you want to recycle, why it’s important and what’s expected of each employee.
8. Determine a collection method. Decide from the beginning whether recyclables will be commingled or separated by source.
9. Make recycling convenient and easy. Don’t skimp on collection bins, for example. If a bin is easier to find than a trash can than your program is bound to work.
10. Choose a method for removal. Here in Santa Clarita we’re fortunate to have our own trash companies alert about recycling and willing to assist citizens.
11. Establish program guidelines. Keep it simple and foolproof for employees.
12. Launch your program and get team “buy in”. Make it fun. Schedule a kick off program, or even a company-wide contest to name the program.
13. Implement! Now it’s time to put the program into practice. Purchase and place bins, label recycling areas/bins. Make sure you place signs about what is recyclable and what isn’t in the same vicinity as the collection bins.
14. Promote and market your program. Keep the momentum going among your employees. Some companies even offer incentive programs to recognize individuals or departments for their efforts.
15. Evaluate the program periodically. Analyze your program’s effectiveness and let team members know the result. How much waste is being saved? Is it reducing costs? Are supply expenses lower?
16. Keep it going and build on the program. If you started with just paper, now extend it to plastic/ink cartridges, for example.
17. Publicize successes. Internally promote the program with workers via a newsletter or email. Externally, use it for a PR boost by sharing results with local and trade publications with a Press Release. Hey, great advertising!
18. Close the loop. Buy recycled content products for your business, reduce waste in the office, and reuse materials when possible.

The start of a new business year is the perfect time to start a recycling program in your business. It’s just what’s needed to re-energize holiday-worn workers, and make them feel like a part of your company’s planning team. Happy Recycling!

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NO SURRENDER!!

No matter what you sell, you will inevitably face rejections and refusals, but learning to see No as valuable feedback can take your sales to a new level. Regardless of how often we hear no its a tough thing to take.

Over the years, Ive had as many rejections as anyone else, especially as an author who doesnt have a celebrity name. Here are some ways Ive learned to cope with this situation:

Its only their opinion When someone tells us that what were attempting cant be done, we tend to think theyre right. What Ive learned is to look at that no as just that persons opinion. It isnt good or bad; its just data coming in to me. I can analyze it and make my next move smarter. What Ive received is valuable feedback that can help me to find a new and different approach.

Dont let a no undermine your confidence, your belief in the value of your product, idea, book, or your ability. Go out and resell it again!

Dont get defensive Its OK to get angry when rejected, whats not OK is to make excuses or try to persuade the other party that they are wrong. Use your anger to get yourself going again, let that no create a sense of urgency to find a better way.

Take action to prove that the other person is wrong. Instead of getting depressed when rejected, take up the challenge, and vow to solve the problem and demonstrate that you were in the right all along.

Let history be your guide If people are laughing at your ideas, ask yourself why that might be. Is your idea just ahead of its time? Or is it because you havent expressed your concept well enough, or demonstrated to prospects how theyre going to benefit in the long term? Understand that it takes time for every new idea, product to gain acceptance. When Alexander Graham Bell said he had found a way for people living thousands of miles apart to communicate, other people scoffed and said it couldnt be done. The rest as they say is history. Examples like this one teach you that other people who have been laughed at and told no have managed not only to achieve their goals, but also to surpass them.

In the past, hearing no from a prospective client or publisher would have sent me into a tailspin. Now, I try to embrace the rejection, and take that information to see what I can learn from it. Doing so lets me come out stronger every time. It will do the same for you.

 

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LOW-COST PROMOTION & MARKETING IDEAS

Promotion and advertising can be a heavy expense, especially for
a new business that wants to make itself known in a community. A
home-based business, however, more often than not, has a very
limited budget when it comes to advertising. The home business
owner needs to make the public aware of his or her product or
service at the lowest possible cost.

There are many ways. A pet breeder in a large city was struggling
for several years-until he came up with a novel idea. He started
giving away customized “birth certificates” for the pets he sold.
Almost immediately, his sales rose more than 10 percent.

The owner of a new home cleaning service was trying to attract
clients. She couldn’t afford much advertising, so she began
offering “home cleaning seminars” to civic groups. After two
months of seminars, she was swamped with inquiries and clients.

Promotion often makes the crucial difference between business
success and failure. Customers or clients must know about a
business or product line before they’ll buy and they must have a
reason to buy.

If you are trying to promote your business now, you can move in
one of two directions: 1) You can take the conventional route to
promotion and mount an elaborate media campaign, spending a
considerable amount of money or 2) You can let your creative juices
flow and mount a low-cost promotion effort, using a potpourri of
attention-getting gimmicks to bring your message to the buying
public.

Now, to be sure, conventional advertising is valuable. If your
enterprise is large enough or if you’re selling numerous product
lines, you may find that a full-fledged media campaign is the
most efficient and cost effective way to promote your business.

If money is tight, however, or you’re not sure you can amortize
the heavy cost of a media campaign over a period of time, the
following is a assortment of low-cost techniques you can try. Not
all may be appropriate for your particular business, and
certainly it would be costly to try them all. But you’re sure to
find some ideas that will work for you.

GIVEAWAYS. People love to receive “free” items, especially items
they can use to gain knowledge or improve their lives. You can
base an entire promotional campaign on this desire. If you’re
running a furniture repair business, for instance, you could give
away a furniture repair brochure, free furniture planning guides,
or color swatches. Once you begin giving away authoritative
information customers will begin to perceive you as an expert in
your field.

NEWS CREATION. Want to get names and news from your business in
the local newspaper? It may be easier that you think. If you
don’t have any news to report to the local media, create some.
Maybe you’ve taken on a new associate. Or maybe you’re selling an
unusual product line. Or maybe you’ve opened a free advice center
for the community. Or maybe you’ve received an award from a civic
or professional group. Local Pennysavers and weekly are often
quite interested in business news of this sort and can help you
attract the attention of thousands of people.

EVENTS. You may be able to attract the attention of the media or
a crowd by staging a special promotional event. If you run a
fitness classes, for instance, you could stage a celebrity
instructor day. If you’re promoting a new real estate business,
you can offer tours of a model home in the area. If you’re
selling children’s products and it’s springtime, you can offer
lunch with the Easter bunny. Get the idea?

CHARITY TIE-INS. Are you launching a new product? Trying to
increase visibility among a particular segment of your community?
Offer your product to one or more local charities as a raffle
prize or for use at a fund raising event. You’ll receive lots of
exposure among people who buy tickets or attend the event.

CONTESTS. Offer a desirable or unique item-or even several
items-as contest prizes. First, find a contest theme that tiers
into your business. A caterer might offer a quiche-eating
contest. A photographer might offer a young model contest. A mail
order craft firm might offer an “Early American” handicrafts
contest. Invite contest submissions and offer prizes to the
winners. Do contests attract attention? You bet. All it takes is
a few signs, a small press announcement or two, and the word will
spread throughout the community grapevine.

COMMUNITY SERVICE. Nothing brings you to the attention of the
people faster-or more favorably-than community service. Ask
yourself how your enterprise can be a “good neighbor” to your
community. If you’re running a lawn care and gardening service,
perhaps you can offer one season’s services at no charge to a
needy charitable organization or nursing home in your area.
Hundreds of people will hear about your work in the process.
Volunteer for various community causes. If appropriate, you can
step in during community emergency, offering products and
services to help an organization or individuals in need.

COUPONING. Americans are very coupon-conscious. Test the market:
at what level will coupons increase the volume of various product
or service lines? When you get some tentative answers, start
distributing coupons that offer a discount on your services.
Distribute them to area newspapers, on store counters, in
door-to-door- mail packets (which can often be quite
inexpensive), at the public library, at laundromats, at any
location where people congregate.

BADGES AND NOVELTIES. You can easily and inexpensively produce
badges, bumper stickers, book covers, and other novelty items
for distribution in your area. You can imprint your business name
and the first names of the customers on many of these products at
little cost and distribute them for free. Or you can tie your
novelty program into a contest: once a month, you can offer a
prize to any individual whose car happens to carry one of your
bumper stickers or badges with peel-off coupons, redeemable at
your place of business.

CELEBRITY VISITS. With a bit of persistence, you may be able to
arrange to have a local media celebrity, public official, or
entertainment personally-even a fictitious cartoon character or
clown-visit your service. The celebrity can sign autographs, read
stories to children, perform cooking demonstrations, or perform
any one of a hundred other traffic-building activities.

CELEBRATE HOLIDAYS. You’ll probably want to celebrate major
public holidays with special sales. But celebrate some of the
offbeat holidays as well. Almost every business has a few
little-known holidays. Ever hear of National Pickle Day, for
instance? Or Cat Lovers Month? Once you find the “right” holiday,
you can sponsor a special sale or special product arrange special
media coverage of a holiday event.

GO WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE. Can you open sales information booths at
community fairs and festivals? This promotional technique can
work for gift retailers, craftspeople, and personal service
firms. If you have the people and the time, can you handle
regional fairs or even trade shows?

MAILING LISTS. Once you begin establishing a committed clientele,
gather their names on a mailing list. Save the names from your
mail orders and telephone inquiries. Eventually, you’ll be able
to send product circulars or even catalogs to the folks on your
list and you’ll be able to promise your products by mail.

SCAVENGER HUNTS. If you want people to buy NOW, offer them an
unbeatable deal. If they bring an old product-a small appliance,
a book, whatever-to you, you’ll give them a worthwhile discount
on a comparable new item. Or stage a general purpose scavenger
hunt. Customers who bring in three canned goods for your
community’s food bank will receive a discount on products
purchased that day.

PARTIES. Everyone loves a party. Why not celebrate the
anniversary of your business or some special holiday by offering
baked goods and beverages? If you’re running a service business,
perhaps you can offer an open house or obtain a small banquet
room in your community. Besides refreshments, be sure the place
is brightly decorated.

GREETING CARDS. Do you send out greeting cards to major customers
or clients? Holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries make nice
greeting card occasions. Greeting cards create enormous goodwill
and keep your name in front of people.

SEMINARS. In this information hungry age, people love to receive
advice, especially about their personal needs and hobbies. If you
sell health foods or run fitness classes, perhaps you can offer
“wellness” seminars during lunchtime to your area’s business
community. If you’re an interior decorator, perhaps you can offer
one-hour decorating workshops to any group of ten people who will
gather in someone’s home. If you’re running a printing business,
perhaps you can offer tours and layout seminars at your plant.

If you’re not pleased with your promotional efforts today or if
you simply must increase your exposure among customers and
prospects-it’s probably time to increase your publicity efforts.

By all means, advertise in the media if you can or must. But
don’t neglect your greatest promotional asset-your mind. Ponder
the products, services, and events you can offer the community
and devise a creative promotional strategy around them. You’ll
have to invest a bit of time and energy in the project, but the
payoff will be worth it. You’ll save hundreds-or even
thousands-of advertising dollars and, better yet, you’ll travel a
well-worn shortcut to profit.