Archives: 2007 November

So often we forget that our customers are our boss. I think I discovered
one significant reason why most of us fall into this “rut.” The day we
began our business we were as happy as could be. The customer was king!
We didn’t have many orders so we bent over backwards to make sure that all
our customers [...]

The gift basket industry has exploded over the past few years and
continues to be a consistent money maker for those involved in it. In many
ways, it’s the ideal business. You can run it from the home. It’s an
extremely inexpensive business to start (you only need supplies and a
marketing budget). The product [...]

For a lot of people, publishing a book may look like it costs lots of money.
For example, on a short-run press, this book costs around $2.10 to print.
For the uninitiated, self-publishing is one of the easiest ways to make money
in the world. Of course, it requires some talent, but they are easy to learn.
Take a [...]

Aside from cost, or the fact that having an outside answer you business
calls, there are some smart rules regarding 800-lines and how you should
handle them.
Keep 800 lines in-house when the product is technical or when consumers are
likely to ask a lot of questions.
Only a hire a service bureau when the volume of calls in moderate, [...]

Advertising isn’t hard to do. You prepare an advertisement or write a
classified ad to sell your product or generate interest to send people more
information. But the way most people make mistakes is either by their
inability to write effective ad copy and by sending it to be published in
the wrong publication. Here are some pointers to [...]

With many small mail order publications, the cost of classified ads is
extremely reasonable. The trick is that you have to run several to pay off
any money unless the publication is not dominated by classifieds. Otherwise,
people will simply skim them over and more than likely miss your ad.
Therefore, before advertising in any publication, make sure you [...]

Casual advertising is one of the most effective way to present your product
to the market, and by placing them as props in movies or TV shows, your
product is exposed to a wide audience based, and with some implied level
of endorsement.
When Clark Kent spooned Cheerios into his mouth in the movie Superman, it
was not because the [...]

Promotion advertising differs significantly from consumer franchise-building
advertising. The latter is long-term in nature and aimed at giving customers
reasons to buy. Promotion advertising is short-term. It pushes for the order
by providing incentives, coupons, rebates, premiums and contents.
The usual medium for promotion advertising is print. Some big-budget
advertisers use broadcast (radio and television) to get consumers [...]

Whoever started the nasty rumor that mail order business is very slow
during the months of July and August is dead wrong. In case you are new
to the world of mail order you are likely to believe this rumor.
The sad part is that a lot of people in the business really believe it!
Why do they [...]

Very few of us are aware of the contribution small businesses make to the
American economy. According to the Small Business Administration, in 1988,
the United States had approximately 19 million businesses. Of those, 15.7
million were operated as sole proprietorships _ the businesses that
traditionally train the work force by employing young people in their first
jobs and women [...]