Business Blogs: Trends, tips, and real-life anecdotes from industry experts.

The current holiday season encouraged many small businesses to test out email marketing in 2008. It’s simple, affordable and trackable after all. Maybe you started out with a “thank you for your business” message or you enticed customers with offers for repeat business and referrals. But the idea of creating a consistent e-newsletter to issue [...]

By Erin Jacobs, VerticalResponse
Customers often ask me, what are the best offers to use in email marketing programs, or any lead generation program for that matter.  The answer, of course, is dependent on a list of factors- among them: What is the nature of your business? What are you trying to achieve with your email? [...]

I am a retail agent, I assist companies with getting their products reviewed and accepted by mass retailers.
I recently had a client that said he mistakenly assigned another rep to a retailer he and I had a contract with, and would we exclude this account from our sales roster and allow his “other rep” [...]

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for reading my blog and offering your questions, comments and insights. It is a pleasure sharing with you!
I’ll be taking a short break to celebrate the holidays, but I’ll be back in 2009 with more tips and information to help you boost awareness, sales [...]

As a busy entrepreneur, have you started your holiday shopping yet? To save time, there are always gift cards and food items. Another option is to visit your favorite bookstore. Here, you can find unique gifts and even buy a hot, holiday beverage at an in-store café. Plus, you can peruse the periodicals for the [...]

Last year our company sat on its heals using the old excuse “it’s the holidays, nobody makes buying decisions right now” and it killed our numbers.  Our sales team felt like they had a free ride to underperform.  The funny part was that in January and February our numbers were great.  The sales team just [...]

It’s possible if you manufacture or sell products for children under 12 years old.  The phrase “National Bankruptcy Day” was coined by toy manufacturer Rick Woldenberg, President/CEO of Learning Resources, in reference to the new CPSIA legislation that passed on October 18, 2008.  The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) is a direct response to [...]

It’s 10:00 a.m. in the middle of the work week, and your website just went down, a client wants a document in the next twenty minutes, the shipment you were expecting didn’t arrive, you spilled mustard on your shirt five minutes before your big meeting, an employee is doing all of her holiday shopping during [...]

As an example of systems-thinking, and at the risk of an awful pun, reaching for a piece of toilet paper is the bottom line. �
Toilet paper is a mandatory accessory. It may be the one thing that all of us have used daily for all our lives. As an illustration of a system that is ubiquitous, [...]

VERY often I stumble on, or am introduced to GREAT products! I visit their web site to contact them for what could be a fantastic opportunity…..and find only a contact EMAIL…..for which I send an inquiry, and hear no response. Oh La La, YIKES!
This happened to me recently, and I need to express my sympathy, [...]