Ultimate Dads Success Ezine 008
Communication… wow, it’s so important to what we do, isn’t it.
Here’s an example of communication backfiring.
The Board of my Home Owners’ Association sent Pam and me a note. It was marked “First Notice” and since the wording was rather general, we read it and put it in the recycling, thinking it was aimed at someone else.
But then we found out that a neighbor said that we were feeding the feral cats that are roaming our neighborhood, so the Board sent us a notice to stop or we’d be fined (and they quoted the chapter and verse of the By-Laws which prohibit such action… though loosely defined to be sure).
The problems is: we were NOT feeding these cats.
Oh, sure… about 4 winters ago we did, when we thought the mother and her babies out in the snow had been abandoned. But 18 months ago when a neighbor pointed out the problem he was having, we stopped.
But did the Board take the time to find out from us what we had been doing? Did anyone call Anyone send an email inquiring about what might be going on? Did anyone act like a neighbor and drop by to chat?
Nope.
So, why is this here in a marketing Newsletter?
Because that is exactly what we do to our clients at times. We send them information that doesn’t apply to them. We don’t ask what they want? We don’t inquire as to how things are going with them so that we can “find out what they want and help them to get it.”
Neighbors be angry over notes like the one Pam and I received (though I wrote a calm note to our Board President and asked why this was wrongly sent to us without anyone checking first).
Customers and clients just stop doing business with us and never say anything.
Ouch.
Don’t let that happen to you!
Charlie
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How Do You Preplan Every Sales Appointment? In February of 2006, Charlie Seymour, Jr. was a guest speaker at the Sale Summit for Business Development Resources, where he offered this important information: Meeting with decision makers is rare. What percentage of your time do you spend with a decision maker getting a decision? And once you’ve spent that time, you still haven’t earned any money yet. Fulfilling your product or providing your service is what makes money, so we need to make the most of these appointments and keep moving. Ninety percent of all sales meetings are won or lost before you even meet the decision maker. Too many people feel that ‘experience’ in their chosen field is a substitute for pre-meeting planning. They just don’t think they need to do it. Well, the most successful people, the Rainmakers (as Jeffrey J. Fox calls them in “How To Become A Rainmaker”) never waste a sales call – they always preplan a meeting, and 1. Written objective of the meeting Remember to be flexible! If you are two minutes into your painstakingly prepared presentation and the client is ready to purchase… Shut Up! Stop talking, “take the order,” and leave gracefully! If you have judged incorrectly about how the meeting will proceed and it goes a whole different way, that’s cool… be ready to adjust to the change. The takeaway? In the end, your plan isn’t important. Listening to the client is everything! If you have a favorite marketing method and will share it with all of us, I'll be sure to include your name and contact information here in our Ezine. Share Your Marketing Ideas Here! |
Twitter is a powerful tool. Here are 7 tools that for local businesses that help make Twitter even more powerful for you.
If you’re interested in local happenings, these tools will help you find out what’s going on nearby.
1. Nearby Tweets: Check out Nearby Tweets to seek out local Twitter users.
2. Atlas: Use Atlas to see tweets on a map.
3. GeoFollow: Using the GeoFollow directory, you’ll be able to find users in specific areas.
4. CityTweets: See real time Twitter activity for cities on CityTweets.
5. Twittervision: Check out Twittervision for real-time geographic tweets.
6. TwitterLocal: On TwitterLocal, you can find tweets in a designated location.
7. Localtweeps: Check out Localtweeps to find Twitter users near you.
What do you find is working on the Internet? If you have a short article or suggestion to share with others here, please let us know. Share Your Internet Marketing Ideas Here!
Six weeks ago I mentioned how I tell people that I’m “on a deadline” so that I won’t be asked to waste time that I should be working toward my goals. Five weeks ago I gave you a tip that I got from Dan Kennedy years ago: Only accept SCHEDULED telephone calls from clients. Four weeks ago I present something that I’m “famous” for (and the envy of many of my friends stuck in a “job”: my DPS Time – Dreaming, Planning, Scheming. Three weeks ago I told you about SKYPE. Last week I told you to stay away from TV, radio, newspapers, etc until late in your day – keep your engine running well with positive, uplifting, spiritual or meaningful messages instead. Today: Watch other industries, not just your own. Ever notice how people seem to look around at what everyone else is doing in their industry and then they mirror that same marketing? If everyone else is doing poorly or only doing average sales, WHY would you do that? NORMAL (right… the things people say are the “norm” for their business”) actions produce normal results which mean poor, average, NOT the results YOU are looking for. As an example, take your Sunday newspaper, turn to the Real Estate section, hold the paper at arm’s length, and squint just a bit so it all blurs before your eyes. Now… what stands out? If you say, “Nothing,” then they are all doing the same thing and NO ONE is being noticed. Is that how you want YOUR business to be seen… the same as everyone else? I know I sure don’t. So… look around at what people are doing in other types of businesses and see what can work for you. An Ezine like this one. A name-capture website where you give away some information so you can build a list or raving fans. Direct mail that isn’t just a blown-up business card listing name, rank, and serial number. A speech at a local business association which you then record and put the MP3 on your website and free information that helps other people and builds your credibility in your field. It all works SO much better than looking like everyone else! Now… just Do It! What do you find toughest about working on your own? Tell us what we can do to help. |
If Oprah was angry when an author lied to her about his credentials, imagine how she'll feel when a major company promises to feed people for FREE and then turns down the coupons it distributed
Do you remember "New Coke" and the marketing fiasco it created.
Welcome to KFC's attempt at retraining our taste buds to like GRILLED Chicken instead of deep fried.
There's a marketing lesson here, so please pay attention!
Lesson 1. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
Lesson 2. The way to get a man angry is to promise him food, let him smell it, and then tell him it's not for him!
Lesson 3. It's much more difficult to recover AFTER a problem than it is to CAUSE the problem.
KFC Blows It – Simply Put: They Weren't Ready For This
KFC Blows It, Oprah! To read the rest of this story, click here!
If you want to write for one of our blogs, please send us a short email telling us the topic you want to write about, giving us a writing sample of 250 – 500 words. Here's My Writing Sample – I'd Like To Blog With You!
Social Bookmarking Automation SoftwareSocial Bookmarking is a very important component of getting search engines to know you exist. I have been using this software for several months and INSTANTLY saw results when first posting some of the information for this site. It's well though-out, carefully constructed to follow all the rules of natural bookmarking, and runs by itself once you set it up. Be sure to understand what this is supposed to do before you start, but once you know, this tool will save you HOURS and get Google to stand up and take notice. |
What's going on? What would you like to share? What great tidbits of information will you share with the rest of the group? We'll publish it here: Around The Water Cooler Information – Click Here To Share Your Ideas And Comments!
From 50 Universal Truths About Men 16. You did something hurtful. If I never bring it up, I’m considering leaving you. Did you just hear something from a woman and thought it needed translation? Did you recently say something that was totally unintelligible by your spouse? Share How Men And Women Speak Differently – Click Here To Email Your Thoughts! |
Send us some of your favorites!
Here’s something amusing, if not “funny.”
Here are the winners of this year's Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter and supply a new definition:
10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
more to come!
Share Your Favorite G-Rated Joke or Quote – Click Here To Email!
WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM FAILURE?Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end street. William A. Ward And I’ve always liked the expression: It’s Not Failure; It’s Feedback. When something doesn’t work, we LEARN one more thing that doesn’t work so we work at something else. Thomas Edison was famous for pointing out that he wasn’t a failure… he merely learned 10,000 ways NOT to make a light bulb. What he HE had stopped after the first “failure.” It might be pretty dark at night. Charlie Seymour Jr LITTLE BOOK OF BIG QUESTIONS: Answers to Life’s Perplexing Questions by Diana Booher Illustrated by Michelle Allen Publisher: Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2001 |
Tell us: what are your three most pressing needs as you work at home? Write to us and we'll see what we can do to help you either directly or here in our ezine: 3MostPressingNeeds.
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Charlie has studied with some of the best direct response marketers on the planet – one on one, in the classroom, at seminars, and with work at home courses. He is no stranger to thinking big. He is an entrepreneur with a variety of interests and abilities, mostly focused on families and the Arts. He honed his skills as a business marketer and entrepreneur after earning his MBA in Marketing and Management from The Wharton School in 1975 and his BA in Economics and Music from Tufts University in 1973. He sold $247,368,657.97 as a salesman and marketed more than $1 billion as the Vice President of Marketing for Jackson-Cross Company. Charlie is featured in the new book, Dream Inc, about 32 Philadelphia-area entrepreneurs and their million dollar secrets to success, and The Ultimate Success Secret by Dan Kennedy and Michael M. Capuzzi. Artistically his life has also been rich by directing musical theater when not working. He is a frequent speaker and author about Marketing, Work At Home, and Web 2.0. He runs his own photography and video business; is an online community builder; and has been an Ultimate Work At Home Dad for nearly 20 years. In addition to his major online projects, Charlie created http://LizSeymour.com to assist his daughter as she produced her first music CD. His personal portal site is http://CharlesSeymourJr.com. |
Charlie Seymour Jr is an Ultimate Work At Home Dad, an entrepreneur, and a marketer with a heart for families, children, the arts, and how they tie together. He createdthough frequently permission is granted for use for ezines, blogs, radio programs, TV news, and magazines.
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