Growing in a Declining Market

Recessions are self-fulfilling prophecies. At the first hint of a slow-down, businesses start to worry. They lay people off and pull back their investments in new initiatives because no one wants to be the last one off the train. Other businesses then react to hearing of the layoffs and pullbacks. They start to stockpile cash, too scared to carry out their plans for promotion and expansion. Fear and negativity rule! Once they decide things will get bad they do get bad.

Fortunes were made during the Depression. No one ever writes about that. There are incredibly huge opportunities in a down market, especially for entrepreneurial businesses.

10 Tips for Acquiring New Customers

More often than not, marketing managers and sales directors just don't get along. When revenues drop or targets fall short, they start blaming each other.

Typically, tempers really flare over who drops the ball on sales leads, which in time get more and more expensive.

18 Essential Elements That Can Make or Break Your Direct Marketing Campaign

Welcome to Direct Marketing 101. Your instructor, René Gnam, is a leading authority in the direct marketing industry. Gnam presented these 18 Essential Elements during a seminar at a Florida Direct Marketing Days event. Take notes. You will be tested, over and over again, in the years to come.

1. A terrific product or service is absolutely essential. Otherwise, people won't return to buy from you again.
An important direct marketing concept: the back end is more important than the front end. In other words, getting your customers to buy from you again is most important and you won't get them back unless you have a terrific product or service. If your product or service can stand on its own without a lot of hype, you will get repeat customers.

Register for a SAN

Numerous small businesses still utilize telemarketing for the majority of their sales and/or appointment setting. Getting started is not difficult if you know the correct rules to follow. If you want to telemarket to prospects, you need to have Do Not Call (DNC) numbers removed (scrubbed) from your list.

You’ve been told that you need to get a SAN (Subscriber Account Number) first. How do I do that? It’s really not as complicated as it sounds. Below are helpful step-by-step instructions on how to obtain a SAN and register to access the federal Do Not Call List.