Internet Tip of the Week
by Bob Osgoodby
by Bob Osgoodby
Today is Saturday, April 15, 2006
It is 105 days since the first of the Year
There are 260 days left in the Year, and
There are 253 days until Christmas
Today is . . . . Tax Resistor's Day
On this date . . . Abraham Lincoln died (1865)
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In this Issue
** Internet Tip of the Week by Bob Osgoodby – Toll Free Numbers
** In the News – Parents Find Kids Through Cell Phones
** Featured Article – Tag Line Calisthenics by Marcia Yudkin
** Biz-Tips by Dr. Kevin Nunley – Good Information Is Important, But…
** Humor to Start the Weekend – IRS Scam
** Feedback – How do you keep track of the dates?
** Something to Think About by Jan Tincher
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Welcome
Welcome to our new subscribers, who have joined 47,000+ other business savvy onliners. We hope you enjoy our weekly Newsletter. If you have a favorite "Tip" that would be of interest to our subscribers or an article that would be of interest, please send it to: articles@adv-marketing.com
Toll Free Numbers
by Bob OsgoodbyMuch has been written about the value of 800 numbers. Basically, an 800 number is like calling someone collect, since they pay for the call instead of you.
Does an 800 number increase the chances of making a sale? Let's explore this a bit. Suppose you read an advertisement, or visit a web site that lists an 800 number where you can get more information. Many times you get a "canned" spiel which, if you bother to listen to the whole thing, asks for your number so they can return your call. At that point, many people simply hang up as they don't want to give out their private number. The last thing they want is to be put on another telemarketing list. This tactic is used extensively by some. Does it work? The jury is still out on this one.
Some make you fight your way through a maze of options - press 1 for this, 2 for that, and so on. Some don't even give the option of talking with a live person. If you don't select one it simply starts the option selection process again. - The jury is in on this one. The owner of this 800 number will pay for a lot of calls, that simply frustrate the caller and will never result in a sale. What a waste!
If you're lucky, you get a real person who answers the phone, and who can help. Now let's switch the focus here a bit, and make believe you are the person who answers. Is the caller a serious prospect, a bored teenager with nothing better to do, or what they refer to in the automotive trade as a "tire kicker?
Trying to determine if they are a serious prospect is a challenge. If they are, you might make the sale. If they aren't however, how do you gracefully end the conversation? Many small businesses are a "one horse" shop, without the staff, and equipment necessary to handle multiple calls. Every minute you are on the phone, with someone who is not a serious prospect, is not only wasting your time, but may cost you another customer, who can't get through because the line is busy.
Some people, who may have a slight interest, think that because it is a toll free number they don't have anything to lose, so they make the call. It doesn't cost them anything, so why not. These are your "tire kickers", are usually not serious prospects, and are wasting your resources.
How do you avoid these types of problems? Simple, don't have an 800 number. If a person has to spend their "nickel" for the call, they have already pre-qualified themselves as a serious prospect. You know that time spent with them will be productive. Now the small entrepreneur must have a separate phone line for this. If you are involved in several businesses, you should have a line for each one. That way, when the phone rings, depending on the number called, you can answer the phone in a businesslike manner.
We used 800 numbers with our businesses. As an experiment, we took the 800 number off our website, and put in a non-toll free number. Two things happened and they were both good. First, the number of calls received decreased by almost 80 percent. This of course concerned us at first. Secondly however, we saw our sales dramatically increase. Why? Because the prospects were pre-qualifying themselves, and we were not wasting our time, or losing calls due to lines being busy.
Do 800 numbers have a place in your business plan? Sure! If you are product oriented, a toll free order line is essential. People may hesitate to pay a toll for a product they wish to order. If you are service oriented, it is a must for technical support. With long waiting times for help, it would be a real turn off if one wasn't available.
So how can you know if an 800 number will work for you?
Test it.
Call your local phone company and ask them the rates for installing an 800 number. They'll have different plans, so make sure that you choose a plan that fits your needs and budget.
Sign up for a couple of months and add the number to all of your sales stuff - web site, etc. Then track your results. Does the benefits (sales), justify the cost, then you've got a winner. If not then unplug it.
FYI -----
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In The News
Parents Find Kids Through Cell Phones
Sprint Nextel has announced a new service that allows parents to use cell phones to locate their kids if they are carrying their phones.
The Family Locator service takes advantage of technology that cell phone companies were required to implement to allow emergency workers to locate cell phone callers. With the new service, parents can locate children on maps that display on phone screens. When a parent checks a child's location, the service sends a text message to that child informing them of the inquiry. Marina Amoroso, analyst with Yankee Group, noted that the market for family plans is driving cell phone business, representing more than half of most companies' new subscribers.
In this area, Sprint trails competitors Verizon and Cingular by a considerable margin, according to Amoroso, though she said she doubted whether the introduction of this new service would help Sprint narrow the gap much.
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Tag Line Calisthenics
by Marcia YudkinA terrific tag line sets you apart from other businesses and provides a memorable and appealing reason to choose your firm over other options. The tag line should trail your company name like a shadow everywhere - in ads, on your web site, on business cards and in on-hold telephone messages, to name a few places.
Before assessing your own tag line, warm up by looking at a category of Yellow Pages ads or flip through your local business paper. First, you'll undoubtedly notice an epidemic of companies whose tag lines are missing in action. Rate those you do see from the viewpoint of a potential customer.
Here's my ten-spot workout from looking at ads in BusinessWest, the twice-monthly paper covering Western Massachusetts business.
1. 5 points - honest.expert.driven This ad featured a picture of a vintage Cadillac, compounding my confusion about what kind of business this is. 5 points does not do car repair, however. It creates custom web-based applications. So thumbs down; the business name and tag line together should make it crystal clear what the company does.
2. Charter Business - The Way Business Works Not as misleading as #1, yet the tag line is just too vague to help the reader understand what line of business this firm is in, much less why one should select them over competitors.
3. Spa on the Green - Organic Skin Care & Body Treatments Nicely specific. I know what they do and how they differ from other spas. If they're not the only spa in the area featuring organic products, though, this tag line isn't distinct enough.
4. Richard A. McCullough, Inc. - Building Homes of Distinction Since 1953 We know this is a high-end residential builder with more than 50 years of experience. The tag line could have a little pizzazz to be more appealing, but it gets a passing grade.
5. Southbridge Savings Bank - Preserving the past, building for the future. Since 1848. Although there's a nice ring to this one, from the customer's point of view it's not clear why we should care about the architectural consciousness alluded to in the tag line. Preserving whose past? Its own? Downtown Southbridge's? Not quite on target.
6. PeoplesBank - Great relationships start here. Oh, so if I'm looking for romance, I should get a job at PeoplesBank? Do they have a matchmaking service? This tag line too doesn't narrow in enough on the types of images evoked.
7. Wolf & Company, P.C., Certified Public Accountants and Business Consultants - Insight and Integrity What a sad commentary on today's business environment, when a CPA firm feels the need to say that it has integrity. Even so, honesty and integrity are qualities that no company can ever credibly claim about itself. Only third parties can attest to an individual's or company's moral virtues. In addition, when you bring up integrity as an issue, you get customers thinking about complications you don't want them to be pondering while considering hiring you.
8. Mercy Medical Center - Our mission is to heal. Our passion is to care. Rah-rah! Mission statements should be used to rally your own troops, not to motivate customers. The people you serve don't care about your aspirations, only about the benefits you actually deliver. So for the target market, this tag line evokes skepticism.
9. Springfield Day Nursery - Early Care and Education at its Best... Since 1883 This tag line was so startling that I looked very closely to see if I had read the date correctly. I rate this tag line highly because as a whole, it sparks curiosity. As a potential day care parent, I'd want to know more about this place and how it's survived and updated its care for kids over such a long period of time.
10. Westbank - On your corner. In your corner. Finally, a winner. This tag line is crisp, snazzy and persuasive. It gives me a memorable rationale for choosing this bank over competitors.
Now that I'm all warmed up from assessing tag lines, it's your turn!
-----
Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity and ten other books hailed for outstanding creativity. Find out more about her new discount naming company, Named At Last, which brainstorms new company names, new product names, tag lines and more for cost-conscious organizations, at www.NamedAtLast.com .
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Biz-Tips
by Kevin NunleyGood Information
Good information is important, but I find crowds consistently go for speakers who are enthusiastic and entertaining. Work up a few humorous quips to throw in at key points in your talk. Illustrate your points with stories that agree with the listener's own experience or tug at their emotions.
-----
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Quote of the Day
You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged."
-- Dale Carnegie, author- 6/25
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A Little Humor to Start the Week
IRS Scam
-=-=-=-=-=If you get an envelope from a company called the Internal Revenue Service, "DO NOT OPEN IT!
This group operates a scam around this time every year. Their letter claims that you owe them money, which they will take and use to pay for the operation of essential functions of the United States government. This is untrue!
The money the IRS collects is used to fund various inefficient and pointless social engineering projects and favorite pork-barrel projects like studying sneezing and the swimming habits of insects..
This organization has ties to another shady outfit called the Social Security Administration, who claim to take money from your regular paychecks and save it for your retirement. In truth, the SSA uses the money to pay for the same misguided make-work projects the IRS helps mastermind.
These scam artists have bilked honest, hard working Americans out of billions of dollars. Don't be among them!
Simply send that letter back marked, "Return to Sender". If they inquire by phone, please don't use my name; I'm shy and modest about receiving the credit.
-----
Explaining luggage regulations to passengers can be aggravating for flight attendants. One day a woman tried to board with an enormous bag. The lead flight attendant told her why it would not fit, but the woman argued that her bag was a carry-on because it had wheels and a handle.
Without blinking an eye the attendant said, "My Ford has wheels and a handle, but that doesn't make it a carry-on."
-----
"How does Jamie like being pregnant?" Danny asked his friend Ryan.
"Oh, she's not pregnant," Ryan replied, "she's expecting."
"What's the difference?" Danny pressed.
"Well, Ryan explained, "She's expecting me to cook dinner, she's expecting me to do the housework, she's expecting me to rub her feet . .
-----
A woman, searching for a job, inquired about the benefits. The Personnel Manager informed her they had group health and life insurance, but the costs were deducted from the employee's pay.
She said, "My last employer had full health coverage, as well as five years salary for life insurance and a month's sick leave AND they paid the full premiums."
"I can't help but asking madam why you would leave a job with such benefits," the interviewer replied.
The woman shrugged her shoulders and said, "The company went bankrupt."
-----
RiddleWhat characteristic do these words share:
claim, create, cure, duct, file, fit, found, fuse, gram, long, motion, of, pose, test, ton, verb, vision?Scroll Down for the Answer
-----
- 6/3 Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth
must wait very, very long time.
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Feedback - Q&AHello Bob!
At the beginning of this Newsletter you list how many days since the first of the year, the number of days remain and how many days until Christmas. How do you keep track of this information?
Betty Lou
-----
Betty Lou – I have a secret weapon <G> go to our web site at:
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Answer to Riddle
When pro- is added to each, a new word is formed (pro + claim = proclaim).
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Something to Think About
By Jan TincherTo succeed with your goals, they must be personal.
They must be yours. They cannot be your spouse’s, your boss’s, or your friend’s goals. They MUST be yours.
Why?
Because goals made FOR you by someone else have very little staying power. Unless you make those goals YOURS, your brain doesn't have a very powerful picture to go after. If you want to accomplish something, you must MAKE that thing YOUR goal. Don’t say yes to someone unless you are totally committed to the project. If it’s not your goal, it doesn’t have a very good chance of materializing. Learn how to make it your goal, and succeed. Good luck!
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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
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Best Wishes - Have a Great Weekend
BobCopyright - 2004
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