These guys are actively hiring mystery shoppers (must be a US resident over 18). Perhaps 'hiring' is the wrong word, because you don't get paid anything. However, you are given a $500 card and you get to KEEP things that you buy on assignments. I am not sure if this is strictly online mystery shopping assignments that you do from your PC or if there are some offline assignments as well, but either way, it sounds good.
Mystery Shoppers Wanted. No Pay, But You Keep EVERYTHING You Buy With Our Money.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
So You Want To Be A Mystery Shopper?
Monday, March 5, 2007
Postcards Work
What's the fastest, simplest and cheapest way to promote just about any business?
The answer is postcards sent by direct mail. You can get your message to a targeted group of prospects or to your existing customers for a cost of about 25 to 30 cents each including postage. You can actually send someone a postcard every 30 days for only $3 a year.
Postcards Work.
You can generate leads, create sales, ask prospects to give you a try or convince existing customers to buy more or buy more often.
Postcards Work.
What are the 2 biggest secrets of marketing with postcards?
1. Regular, repeated mailings are the way to create big predictable results. When you mail every 30 days for a year you will cause a dramatic growth in your business. People respond to repetition. If you are a parent you know how hard it is to refuse repeated requests for a cookie or a desperately wanted toy. If you are not a parent, I'm sure you remember asking, even begging for a toy, treat or permission to stay up past your bedtime until your parents finally gave in. Your customers and prospective customers are similar. They need to be asked repeatedly too.
Postcards Work.
2. There are really only 4 reasons people don't buy your products and services. Look at your own buying behavior and see for yourself if you believe me when I tell you these 4 apply to you too.
Reason #1. No need.
When people don't buy from you, it's because they don't want what you are offering. They may need what you are offering and not know or acknowledge that need, but the bottom line is they don't want it.
Save lots of time, effort and money by targeting your postcard mailings to groups of people who have demonstrated they want your product or service or one's similar to yours and then mail to them. Follow at least this one piece of advice and become more profitable immediately.
Examples of those who have demonstrated they want your products and services are:
1. your own customers,
2. your competitor's customers and
3. people who have bought products and services which your products and services supplement or complement.
Target your marketing. Promote your business exclusively to people likely to have a strong desire for the benefits provided by your product or service.
Postcards Work.
Reason #2. No money.
Businesses and consumers don't usually avoid purchases because they don't have or can't get the money necessary to purchase. They usually don't buy because they decide buying something else is more important to them (like food).
You can get them to buy from you by making it clear to them that buying your product or service will get rid of something they don't want or will get them something they do want or will get them more of something they already have that they like having.
It is your job to get your people and businesses to see that your products and services give or get them what they really want. Consumers and businesses rarely avoid buying something because they don't have (or can't get) the money needed to make the purchase. They avoid buying what you offer because they place a higher priority on spending money for something else. What is the most nagging problem you can solve for prospects in your targeted market? Make it real to them how they'll feel when your product or service eliminates that problem. Use postcards to communicate how they can get their problem solved.
Postcards Work.
Reason #3. No hurry.
People tend to drag their feet after they decide to buy something. The longer they wait to purchase the more likely they are to forget why your product or service is valuable or even absolutely necessary to them. Keep your message in front of them with repetitive mailings. If you don't...You'll lose the business. The reason repetitive mailings are so effective is that they remind your customers and prospects of what they are missing by not having your product or service working for them in their life. You can avoid losing sales because of "no hurry" by rewarding customers for taking immediate action and penalizing those who don't. For example, offer a special discount price or a special bonus for ordering before a deadline.
Do repetitive mailings to targeted customers and prospects and you will make more sales.
Postcards Work.
Reason #4. No trust.
Most people's fear of losing something is a bigger concern than getting something that they want.
This fear causes them to frequently avoid buying something they truly want.
They don't want to buy and then find out that your product or service won't solve their problem. They don't want to be or even feel ripped off or still at a loss over the solution to their problem.
You must take away their risk in doing business with you.
You must provide a way that they can "trust" you.
If you don't they won't buy and you will lose business.
Most people fear losing something they have more than they desire gaining something they want. This fear causes many people to avoid buying something they really want. They're reluctant to buy because they might not get what they expect from your product or service and they'll lose their money. You have to remove this perceived risk to avoid losing business because of "no trust". Here are 3 ways I've found effective for any business...
1. Eliminate the risk with an unconditional money back guarantee.
2. Give them testimonials from satisfied customers and/or provide references that prove the quality and reliability of your product or service.
3. Make it easy for your prospects and customers to communicate with you and get their questions and concerns answered. Let them see you and your business are real and that you value getting and keeping their trust and present and future business.
These are really the only 4 reasons why people don't buy from you. You can increase your sales and profits by knowing them and doing everything you can to mail your postcards to the people and businesses most likely to want and benefit from your products and services, make it clear to them how valuable the benefits of your products and services are to them, get them to see the urgency of getting the value of your products and services now and finally that they can trust you to help them get the benefits you promised your products and services would give them.
When you do all these things, guess what? People will buy from you like crazy. Postcards are a perfect low cost medium to overcome the 4 reasons people don't buy from you.
Use postcards in repetitive mailings and make your business soar.
Don't ever forget.
POSTCARDS WORK!
The answer is postcards sent by direct mail. You can get your message to a targeted group of prospects or to your existing customers for a cost of about 25 to 30 cents each including postage. You can actually send someone a postcard every 30 days for only $3 a year.
Postcards Work.
You can generate leads, create sales, ask prospects to give you a try or convince existing customers to buy more or buy more often.
Postcards Work.
What are the 2 biggest secrets of marketing with postcards?
1. Regular, repeated mailings are the way to create big predictable results. When you mail every 30 days for a year you will cause a dramatic growth in your business. People respond to repetition. If you are a parent you know how hard it is to refuse repeated requests for a cookie or a desperately wanted toy. If you are not a parent, I'm sure you remember asking, even begging for a toy, treat or permission to stay up past your bedtime until your parents finally gave in. Your customers and prospective customers are similar. They need to be asked repeatedly too.
Postcards Work.
2. There are really only 4 reasons people don't buy your products and services. Look at your own buying behavior and see for yourself if you believe me when I tell you these 4 apply to you too.
Reason #1. No need.
When people don't buy from you, it's because they don't want what you are offering. They may need what you are offering and not know or acknowledge that need, but the bottom line is they don't want it.
Save lots of time, effort and money by targeting your postcard mailings to groups of people who have demonstrated they want your product or service or one's similar to yours and then mail to them. Follow at least this one piece of advice and become more profitable immediately.
Examples of those who have demonstrated they want your products and services are:
1. your own customers,
2. your competitor's customers and
3. people who have bought products and services which your products and services supplement or complement.
Target your marketing. Promote your business exclusively to people likely to have a strong desire for the benefits provided by your product or service.
Postcards Work.
Reason #2. No money.
Businesses and consumers don't usually avoid purchases because they don't have or can't get the money necessary to purchase. They usually don't buy because they decide buying something else is more important to them (like food).
You can get them to buy from you by making it clear to them that buying your product or service will get rid of something they don't want or will get them something they do want or will get them more of something they already have that they like having.
It is your job to get your people and businesses to see that your products and services give or get them what they really want. Consumers and businesses rarely avoid buying something because they don't have (or can't get) the money needed to make the purchase. They avoid buying what you offer because they place a higher priority on spending money for something else. What is the most nagging problem you can solve for prospects in your targeted market? Make it real to them how they'll feel when your product or service eliminates that problem. Use postcards to communicate how they can get their problem solved.
Postcards Work.
Reason #3. No hurry.
People tend to drag their feet after they decide to buy something. The longer they wait to purchase the more likely they are to forget why your product or service is valuable or even absolutely necessary to them. Keep your message in front of them with repetitive mailings. If you don't...You'll lose the business. The reason repetitive mailings are so effective is that they remind your customers and prospects of what they are missing by not having your product or service working for them in their life. You can avoid losing sales because of "no hurry" by rewarding customers for taking immediate action and penalizing those who don't. For example, offer a special discount price or a special bonus for ordering before a deadline.
Do repetitive mailings to targeted customers and prospects and you will make more sales.
Postcards Work.
Reason #4. No trust.
Most people's fear of losing something is a bigger concern than getting something that they want.
This fear causes them to frequently avoid buying something they truly want.
They don't want to buy and then find out that your product or service won't solve their problem. They don't want to be or even feel ripped off or still at a loss over the solution to their problem.
You must take away their risk in doing business with you.
You must provide a way that they can "trust" you.
If you don't they won't buy and you will lose business.
Most people fear losing something they have more than they desire gaining something they want. This fear causes many people to avoid buying something they really want. They're reluctant to buy because they might not get what they expect from your product or service and they'll lose their money. You have to remove this perceived risk to avoid losing business because of "no trust". Here are 3 ways I've found effective for any business...
1. Eliminate the risk with an unconditional money back guarantee.
2. Give them testimonials from satisfied customers and/or provide references that prove the quality and reliability of your product or service.
3. Make it easy for your prospects and customers to communicate with you and get their questions and concerns answered. Let them see you and your business are real and that you value getting and keeping their trust and present and future business.
These are really the only 4 reasons why people don't buy from you. You can increase your sales and profits by knowing them and doing everything you can to mail your postcards to the people and businesses most likely to want and benefit from your products and services, make it clear to them how valuable the benefits of your products and services are to them, get them to see the urgency of getting the value of your products and services now and finally that they can trust you to help them get the benefits you promised your products and services would give them.
When you do all these things, guess what? People will buy from you like crazy. Postcards are a perfect low cost medium to overcome the 4 reasons people don't buy from you.
Use postcards in repetitive mailings and make your business soar.
Don't ever forget.
POSTCARDS WORK!
Autor: Joy Gendusa
Added: March 5, 2007
Source: http://articlebin.com/view-Postcards Work-40924.html
Steve Conn, a Marketing Consultant, consulted PostcardMania before it could afford its own in-house full-time marketing director. Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania (Postcardmania.com) in 1998, her only assets a computer and a phone. By 2005 the company did over $12 million in sales, and made Inc. Magazine"s prestigious Inc 500 List as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the nation. PostcardMania is a full service postcard direct mail marketing company which includes graphic design, printing, mailing list and free marketing advice.
Added: March 5, 2007
Source: http://articlebin.com/view-Postcards Work-40924.html
Friday, February 9, 2007
Specialized Mailing Lists Make All the Difference
by Joy Gendusa
If there is one thing I can't say enough it is that the most important part of your mailing campaign is your mailing list. It is vital that you put the right amount of energy into learning about lists – who to mail to – so that your mailing efforts aren't wasted. There are a few different ways that you can get an adequately targeted list.
As always the first step is to determine who your target market will be. Should you market to consumers or businesses? For this example consider that your product is a set of home woodworking tools. This should be marketed to consumers because it is not an industrial grade product. Good, now we have narrowed it down to only 291,324,219 people in the US. As a minimum, your mailing campaign should send to the same names three times. So all you have to do is send out 873,972,657 postcards at $0.185 per piece & you get the point. We need to narrow it down some more.
So how do you accomplish the narrowing of your list? Many factors can be considered, including age, gender, zip code, annual salary, profession and number of children are some of the more common qualifiers. It may take a while to figure out what combination works for your specific product. Don't worry about political correctness when considering whom you should mail to. It is perfectly acceptable to test certain lists that may be considered "stereotypical". Many times these lists will work well. But you never know until you test them.
A special eye cream would go to women over 40, right? You need not worry that you're targeting "older women" or that 40 is no longer considered old. No matter how great an idea you have about a certain market, ALWAYS DO A SMALLER TEST MAILING FIRST! Average test mailings run around 1000-1500 names. Once you see acceptable returns on the smaller mailing then you can jump in with the larger numbers. You may think 40+ is a good age to start with the eye cream, but you may get better results purchasing age 50+. Test test test!
Sometimes, like with our home woodworking tools, you have a product or service that you are not comfortable that you can adequately narrow your list by the normal qualifiers. You can make certain assumptions about people who are woodworking hobbyists: Mostly Male, Probably Homeowners, but what else do you really know? At this point you may want to consider using a privately "managed" list. These lists are going to cost more per name but will give you a much better way of pinpointing possible customers. For example you could order the subscriber list for Fine Woodworking Magazine. The cost per name would be $0.095 per name compared to the normal average cost of $0.05 per name. These names are nearly double the cost, however you are guaranteed that all of the names you get are for people interested in woodworking and therefore are much more likely to be interested in your product. With the "women over 40" example – some may be wrinkly and some may look quite young and aren't even thinking of eye cream yet.
Managed Lists are not appropriate for all situations, but can be a major help when a very specific target is needed. Don't fret over the extra cost, the more targeted names will undoubtedly show greater overall returns in the end.
The purpose of special mailing lists is to target a specific type of customer for your specific type of business. The eventual end result is more customers and a better bottom line. And this is what we all want, right?
About the author
Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998, her only assets a computer and a phone. By 2005 the company did over $12 million in sales, employed over 100 people and made Inc. Magazine's prestigious Inc 500 List as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the nation. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. PostcardMania is a full service postcard direct mail marketing company which includes graphic design, printing, mailing list acquisition and mailing services with free marketing advice. Visit PostcardMania's web site at www.PostcardMania.comThursday, February 8, 2007
Rules of Thumb for Marketing to Your Past Customers
by Joy Gendusa
Keeping in touch can dramatically increase business, when done properly.
It's a fact that your customers are your best leads. This means that the most likely people to purchase your products and/or services are the ones who have paid for them before. It's also a fact that it costs far less money to keep a customer than it does to go out and get a new one. These are the two reasons that using direct mail to keep in touch with your customer database is a must. There are a few principles to follow when marketing to contacts in your company database that can maximize your bottom line.
Rule #1 - Collect all of their information.
It sounds like a no-brainer but you would be surprised. The more information that you have on your customers, the more likely it is that you will be able to get in touch with them to let them know about specials or to remind them it's time for their next service. Also, don't neglect to ask for your customers' email addresses, most everyone has one and most will give it up pretty easily.
Rule #2 – Don't treat your customers like prospects.
Make sure when you collect the information in your database you differentiate between people who have placed an order in the past and people who have not. Customers want to feel like you are paying attention to them and when they have placed a few orders with you and are still getting your "10% for First Time Buyers" postcards they tend to feel unappreciated. Bottom line, if they don't qualify for an offer you are sending out, don't send it to them.
Rule #3 – Don't let your designs get stagnant.
When you are mailing to databases of people that you have never spoken to before, it is OK to send them the same postcard multiple times. It helps to increase recognition and will eventually increase your response rate. Dealing with customers and prospects that you have already spoken to (meaning they already know most or all of the details of your business) you need to mix things up a bit. Your mailings should be attention getting and informative. If you have started offering a new service recently, a piece designed to let your database know about it would be a smart move. The main point is to keep your company in the front of their mind and to keep them reading your promotion.
Being great at what you do is not always enough to keep the customers that you have earned. With all of the competition out there today you need to be constantly reminding your customers that you are the best at what you do. Direct mail is the best way to give them that reminder.
Always remember to keep mailings that you send to your database informative, attractive and most of all current. Personalize everything that you can and make sure that what you are sending to a past client actually pertains to them or their company. Anything less and your customer may start to drift, and the only people that are going to be happy when that happens are your competitors.
About the author
Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998, her only assets a computer and a phone. By 2005 the company did over $12 million in sales, employed over 100 people and made Inc. Magazine's prestigious Inc 500 List as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the nation. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. PostcardMania is a full service postcard direct mail marketing company which includes graphic design, printing, mailing list acquisition and mailing services with free marketing advice. Visit PostcardMania's web site at www.PostcardMania.comWednesday, February 7, 2007
Running An Effective Email Marketing Campaign - Getting the Help You Need
by Michael
Email marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fundraising messages to a targeted audience. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered e-mail marketing. There are a number of advantages to email marketing - compared to other marketing investments such as direct mail or printed newsletters, it is less expensive. and the return on investment can be high when done properly.
Savvy business owners realize the importance of email marketing even if they do not know how to run an effective email marketing campaign. Simply stated this means a business owner may realize it is imperative for him to run an email marketing campaign to help him meet the needs and expectations of his target audience but he may not know how to orchestrate an email marketing campaign which is truly effective. Fortunately for these business owners they do not have to know a great deal about email marketing because there are plenty of Internet marketing consultants who can assist them in planning and running an effective email marketing campaign. This article will provide some tips for finding a consultant to assist you in orchestrating an email marketing campaign.
One of the most important criteria in seeking a consultant to assist you with our email marketing campaign is experience. Specifically it is experience which has resulted in past success. This is important because one of the best indicators of how well a consultant will perform for you is how well they performed in the past. This means if a consultant was able to help a variety of past clients to attain their goals through email marketing, the consultant will likely be able to assist you in the same way.
************************************
Make sure you're not blacklisted!
Companies considering an e-mail marketing program must make sure that their program does not violate spam laws such as the United States' CAN-SPAM Act, the European Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 or their Internet provider's acceptable use policy. Even if a company follows the law, if Internet mail administrators find that it is sending spam it is likely to be listed in blacklists such as SPEWS.
************************************
Another important criterion when hiring a consultant to assist you with your email marketing campaign is the opinions of past clients. Before committing to work with a particular consultant you should request references from past clients. You should not only request these references but also contact each of the past clients provided and question them about their experiences with the consultant. It is important to keep in mind the consultant will likely only provide reference he is confident will offer a positive opinion of his services. However, you can still learn a great deal about the consultant's style, personality and techniques through these references. This is important because the consultant's personality as well as his skill and abilities is also very important.
If you do not get along with the consultant and have difficulty talking to him, it can be difficult to work with him. Additionally, it might be hard for you to meet your business related goals because you are likely not providing the consultant with enough information or offering feedback which could help him to adjust his strategies to better meet your expectations. While it is true that skill, knowledge and ability are all important sometimes none of these matter if personality conflicts prevent you and the consultant from communicating adequately. Therefore your personal opinion of the consultant should always be carefully considered before making hiring a consultant.
Although consulting references is a good idea, you should also consider contacting the Better Business Bureau (BBB) as well and also seeking out independent reviews of the consultant you are considering hiring to assist you in your email marketing campaign. The BBB can provide you with a great deal of information regarding the past performance of the consultant. If the consultant has been in business for a number of years and does not have any unresolved complaints with the BBB, this is a good indication the consultant performs adequately and treats clients fairly. Conversely a consultant with a number of unresolved complaints against him is not likely going to be a good choice. Similarly a consultant who has a number of independent reviews raving about the quality of his service is likely a good choice to assist you in your email marketing campaign while a consultant who has a number of poor reviews on the Internet is not really a good choice for assisting you with your email marketing campaign. Likewise, you can assume if past clients were not happy with the services he provided, you will likely also not be happy with these services.
About the author
Michael Saunders has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He edits a site on Email Marketing Strategies and maintains the Best Internet Marketing Strategies Site.Exercise Fitness Made Simple
by David Chenault
You may consider this as a confession of an average Joe. I, like many people have a genetic predisposition toward being heavy.
It seems like most of my adult life, I have had to pay special attention to my weight and therefore my appearance. I have tried many different exercise fitness programs and routines. Some delivered much better results than others.
On the one hand, you have the myriad of diet and fitness plans we are all inundated with through advertising and media, on the other, we have our own ideas and thoughts
about weight loss and exercise fitness.
I am not here to sell you on any ideas or to hawk any programs but, I wanted to tell you what I have tried and what has worked for me.
About four years ago, I was so fed up with the weight I had gained and the gradual but obvious loss of my youthful health, that I decided I had to do something about it.
I looked at many different programs and plans and decided that I would try a low carb, high protein diet. I also decided that I would find an exercise fitness program
that fit my schedule and that I could find the time to do. I didn't want big muscles and all that, I just wanted to burn the fat and look and feel better!
I made a decision to go with the Atkins diet for my diet plan approach and to try Tom Venuto's "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle" for my EXERCISE FITNESS PLAN.
My key approach to all of this was to be realistic and keep it simple. I set a goal to lose 44 pounds. I weighed 204 pounds at the time and my goal was to get to 160 pounds. I also wanted to firm up my sagging body parts and my primary drive and motivation was to LOOK and FEEL better.
I also decided that I would follow these programs' recommendations to the letter and be as disciplined as I could to achieve the results I wanted. It was not easy but like I said, my thought was to keep my approach simple and attainable. I decided I would give myself one year to achieve my goals.
To my great astonishment, as I got involved with the Atkins low carb diet, and the Burn The Fat exercise fitness program, the weight began to melt away! I stuck with the recommended "induction" phase of the Atkins diet twice as long as recommended, (four weeks instead of two) and I lost 16 pounds my first month! At the same time, I began to tone up my sagging muscles and dropped two pant sizes!
Inspired on by my progress, I became more determined than ever to keep going. I developed a plan to allow myself one "free day" a week to eat whatever I desired and then tested my weight to see if it would work and if I was still losing weight.
I was!
The end result was, I lost 44 pounds and achieved my goals in four months rather than a year, and I have managed, with proper exercise fitness and low carb dieting to keep it off! Essentially now what I do to stay in "maintenance" is I eat meat, fruit and vegetables (all I want), and I continue to have one "free day" every week.
I think the key to my success is allowing my own body to develop my metabolism to deal with my exercise fitness and low carb diet lifestyle.
I stay away from soft drinks, sugars, high starch foods and breads. On my one free day per week, I eat whatever I want. This continues to work for me.
I wrote this post to encourage you to develop your own exercise fitness and diet program if you haven't already. You WILL LOOK BETTER, FEEL BETTER and be in BETTER HEALTH. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose! Regardless of age or health conditions, you can do it! I am 53 years old and was 44 pounds heavier than I am now.
I am in the best shape of my life and I feel great! You can do it to!
Start today and make a change because you are worth it.
Please feel free to write and post your comments or suggestions. I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts.
Exercise Fitness
http://fitnessprogram1.blogspot.com
You may consider this as a confession of an average Joe. I, like many people have a genetic predisposition toward being heavy.
It seems like most of my adult life, I have had to pay special attention to my weight and therefore my appearance. I have tried many different exercise fitness programs and routines. Some delivered much better results than others.
On the one hand, you have the myriad of diet and fitness plans we are all inundated with through advertising and media, on the other, we have our own ideas and thoughts
about weight loss and exercise fitness.
I am not here to sell you on any ideas or to hawk any programs but, I wanted to tell you what I have tried and what has worked for me.
About four years ago, I was so fed up with the weight I had gained and the gradual but obvious loss of my youthful health, that I decided I had to do something about it.
I looked at many different programs and plans and decided that I would try a low carb, high protein diet. I also decided that I would find an exercise fitness program
that fit my schedule and that I could find the time to do. I didn't want big muscles and all that, I just wanted to burn the fat and look and feel better!
I made a decision to go with the Atkins diet for my diet plan approach and to try Tom Venuto's "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle" for my EXERCISE FITNESS PLAN.
My key approach to all of this was to be realistic and keep it simple. I set a goal to lose 44 pounds. I weighed 204 pounds at the time and my goal was to get to 160 pounds. I also wanted to firm up my sagging body parts and my primary drive and motivation was to LOOK and FEEL better.
I also decided that I would follow these programs' recommendations to the letter and be as disciplined as I could to achieve the results I wanted. It was not easy but like I said, my thought was to keep my approach simple and attainable. I decided I would give myself one year to achieve my goals.
To my great astonishment, as I got involved with the Atkins low carb diet, and the Burn The Fat exercise fitness program, the weight began to melt away! I stuck with the recommended "induction" phase of the Atkins diet twice as long as recommended, (four weeks instead of two) and I lost 16 pounds my first month! At the same time, I began to tone up my sagging muscles and dropped two pant sizes!
Inspired on by my progress, I became more determined than ever to keep going. I developed a plan to allow myself one "free day" a week to eat whatever I desired and then tested my weight to see if it would work and if I was still losing weight.
I was!
The end result was, I lost 44 pounds and achieved my goals in four months rather than a year, and I have managed, with proper exercise fitness and low carb dieting to keep it off! Essentially now what I do to stay in "maintenance" is I eat meat, fruit and vegetables (all I want), and I continue to have one "free day" every week.
I think the key to my success is allowing my own body to develop my metabolism to deal with my exercise fitness and low carb diet lifestyle.
I stay away from soft drinks, sugars, high starch foods and breads. On my one free day per week, I eat whatever I want. This continues to work for me.
I wrote this post to encourage you to develop your own exercise fitness and diet program if you haven't already. You WILL LOOK BETTER, FEEL BETTER and be in BETTER HEALTH. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose! Regardless of age or health conditions, you can do it! I am 53 years old and was 44 pounds heavier than I am now.
I am in the best shape of my life and I feel great! You can do it to!
Start today and make a change because you are worth it.
Please feel free to write and post your comments or suggestions. I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts.
Exercise Fitness
http://fitnessprogram1.blogspot.com
About the author
David Chenault is an online Marketer who owns and operates several online businesses including Websites, Blogs, Affiliate Marketing Programs and Advertising Sites.Postcards Work
by Joy Gendusa
What's the fastest, simplest and cheapest way to promote just about any business?
The answer is postcards sent by direct mail. You can get your message to a targeted group of prospects or to your existing customers for a cost of about 25 to 30 cents each including postage. You can actually send someone a postcard every 30 days for only $3 a year.
Postcards Work.
You can generate leads, create sales, ask prospects to give you a try or convince existing customers to buy more or buy more often.
Postcards Work.
What are the 2 biggest secrets of marketing with postcards?
1. Regular, repeated mailings are the way to create big predictable results. When you mail every 30 days for a year you will cause a dramatic growth in your business. People respond to repetition. If you are a parent you know how hard it is to refuse repeated requests for a cookie or a desperately wanted toy. If you are not a parent, I'm sure you remember asking, even begging for a toy, treat or permission to stay up past your bedtime until your parents finally gave in. Your customers and prospective customers are similar. They need to be asked repeatedly too.
Postcards Work.
2. There are really only 4 reasons people don't buy your products and services. Look at your own buying behavior and see for yourself if you believe me when I tell you these 4 apply to you too.
Reason #1. No need.
When people don't buy from you, it's because they don't want what you are offering. They may need what you are offering and not know or acknowledge that need, but the bottom line is they don't want it.
Save lots of time, effort and money by targeting your postcard mailings to groups of people who have demonstrated they want your product or service or one's similar to yours and then mail to them. Follow at least this one piece of advice and become more profitable immediately.
Examples of those who have demonstrated they want your products and services are:
1. your own customers,
2. your competitor's customers and
3. people who have bought products and services which your products and services supplement or complement.
Target your marketing. Promote your business exclusively to people likely to have a strong desire for the benefits provided by your product or service.
Postcards Work.
Reason #2. No money.
Businesses and consumers don't usually avoid purchases because they don't have or can't get the money necessary to purchase. They usually don't buy because they decide buying something else is more important to them (like food).
You can get them to buy from you by making it clear to them that buying your product or service will get rid of something they don't want or will get them something they do want or will get them more of something they already have that they like having.
It is your job to get your people and businesses to see that your products and services give or get them what they really want. Consumers and businesses rarely avoid buying something because they don't have (or can't get) the money needed to make the purchase. They avoid buying what you offer because they place a higher priority on spending money for something else. What is the most nagging problem you can solve for prospects in your targeted market? Make it real to them how they'll feel when your product or service eliminates that problem. Use postcards to communicate how they can get their problem solved.
Postcards Work.
Reason #3. No hurry.
People tend to drag their feet after they decide to buy something. The longer they wait to purchase the more likely they are to forget why your product or service is valuable or even absolutely necessary to them. Keep your message in front of them with repetitive mailings. If you don't...You'll lose the business. The reason repetitive mailings are so effective is that they remind your customers and prospects of what they are missing by not having your product or service working for them in their life. You can avoid losing sales because of "no hurry" by rewarding customers for taking immediate action and penalizing those who don't. For example, offer a special discount price or a special bonus for ordering before a deadline.
Do repetitive mailings to targeted customers and prospects and you will make more sales.
Postcards Work.
Reason #4. No trust.
Most people's fear of losing something is a bigger concern than getting something that they want.
This fear causes them to frequently avoid buying something they truly want.
They don't want to buy and then find out that your product or service won't solve their problem. They don't want to be or even feel ripped off or still at a loss over the solution to their problem.
You must take away their risk in doing business with you.
You must provide a way that they can "trust" you.
If you don't they won't buy and you will lose business.
Most people fear losing something they have more than they desire gaining something they want. This fear causes many people to avoid buying something they really want. They're reluctant to buy because they might not get what they expect from your product or service and they'll lose their money. You have to remove this perceived risk to avoid losing business because of "no trust". Here are 3 ways I've found effective for any business...
1. Eliminate the risk with an unconditional money back guarantee.
2. Give them testimonials from satisfied customers and/or provide references that prove the quality and reliability of your product or service.
3. Make it easy for your prospects and customers to communicate with you and get their questions and concerns answered. Let them see you and your business are real and that you value getting and keeping their trust and present and future business.
These are really the only 4 reasons why people don't buy from you. You can increase your sales and profits by knowing them and doing everything you can to mail your postcards to the people and businesses most likely to want and benefit from your products and services, make it clear to them how valuable the benefits of your products and services are to them, get them to see the urgency of getting the value of your products and services now and finally that they can trust you to help them get the benefits you promised your products and services would give them.
When you do all these things, guess what? People will buy from you like crazy. Postcards are a perfect low cost medium to overcome the 4 reasons people don't buy from you.
Use postcards in repetitive mailings and make your business soar.
Don't ever forget.
POSTCARDS WORK!
About the author
Steve Conn, a Marketing Consultant, consulted PostcardMania before it could afford its own in-house full-time marketing director. Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania (Postcardmania.com) in 1998, her only assets a computer and a phone. By 2005 the company did over $12 million in sales, and made Inc. Magazine's prestigious Inc 500 List as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the nation. PostcardMania is a full service postcard direct mail marketing company which includes graphic design, printing, mailing list and free marketing advice.
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