The Top Characteristic's Of Women Who Run Million Dollar Companies
By Linda DiMarco
Women entrepreneurs who have pledged their commitment to break the million-dollar barrier and build a successful million-dollar enterprise. Currently, less than 3% of the 10.4 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. generate $1 million or more in revenues annually.
Technorati Tags: Making The Most Of Internet Inquiries
By Tina LoSasso
When someone calls to ask about your product or services, you know exactly what to ask, what to say, and how to follow up. Are you as confident, and effective, responding to an Internet inquiry? Without the benefit of talking with the prospect directly, the contact can feel colder than a cold call. As more consumers and businesses research and purchase via the Internet, you can't afford to mishandle these inquiries. To respond in a professional manner, and convert more Internet inquiries into customers, keep these guidelines in mind:
• To call, or not to call? Some salespeople don't respond to Internet inquiries because they think they're a waste of time. Others reason, "They emailed me, so they must be expecting me to email them back." When someone asks for information via email, you should respond via email. But what's stopping you from calling them as well? Imagine the impression you'll make: responsive, helpful, and efficient. A word of caution: you must have a valid reason to call. Restating the information provided in the email, or interrogating the prospect about his company, budget or time frame, are not valid reasons: they're harassment. Telling the prospect all about your company won't cut it either. Instead, consider carefully what you need to know in order to propose the best solution, then ask about that information.
• Respond in Internet time. Internet time is roughly equivalent to the speed of light. Thanks to email and instant messaging, people expect everything right now. Accordingly, prospects expect a quick response to their email inquiries. If you don't have enough information to propose a solution, let the prospect know that you're working on it, and when he can expect to hear from you. No one wants to be left hanging.
Customers also expect "24/7" response - day or night, every day of the week - and automated replies don't count. You probably check emails while on the road, over the weekend, and late at night. If you're receiving inquiries after-hours, chances are your buyers are working, too. They will appreciate a response from you, even if you're only acknowledging their inquiry. Let them know when you'll get back to them with the requested information.
• Don't be too quick on the draw. Wanting to respond quickly is no excuse for poor grammar, misspellings, and bad form. Proofread your response carefully before sending it. It's easy to miss errors on a computer screen. Try this: print out your draft and read it aloud to catch any mistakes, missed words, or poor syntax. Your email response will create your prospect's first impression of you, so make it a good one!
• Be detached. An Internet inquiry is a dream come true: an interested prospect contacting you! You probably can't wait to email a proposal, product specifications, company brochure, comparison chart, product brochure and lists of happy customers. But if you send all those attachments, your email may not get through the prospect's spam filter; it could take forever to be received, and even longer to download. To avoid coming across like an inconsiderate klutz, send a brief reply. If you have a short proposal, include it in the body of the email, not as an attachment. Let the prospect know that you'll send the collateral material he requested in a separate email. If he didn't request it, don't send it!
• Make an impression. Buyers who email inquiries are probably searching numerous websites besides yours. After awhile, they blur together. Make it easy for the buyer to recall your site, and why he requested information from you in particular. Remind him who you are by including your company tagline, and a link to your site. If the inquiry came from an industry bidding site, take additional steps to distinguish yourself, keeping in mind that the prospect knows nothing about you, not even your company name. To stand out from the potential dozens of replies the prospect will receive, bypass your normal form-letter response, and personalize your reply. Focus on your special ability to meet the prospect's particular request, and give him a reason to remember you.
As a salesperson, you probably feel more comfortable speaking with prospects directly, because you can easily establish rapport and rely on instant feedback to guide the conversation. Email communication robs you of those advantages, but it does not have to rob you of opportunity. Follow these guidelines, and you will convert more Internet inquiries into customers.
Tina LoSasso is Managing Editor of SalesDog.com an online resource for sales professionals. SalesDog.com's new book Top Dog Sales Secrets features sales advice from dozens of nationally renowned sales experts. One reader said, "It's like reading the best ideas from 50 sales books all in one book." To learn more, go to http://www.SalesDog.com
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Top 10 Common SEO Mistakes
By Neeraj Srivastava
Webmasters spend a lot of time and efforts on optimizing a website. They try different strategies to get higher search engine rankings for their website, but some of them fail to get desired results just because of some mistakes. In this article I have listed some common mistakes which should be avoided while optimizing a website as they may have adverse effect on your Search engine rankings:
7 New Year's Resolutions to Start Your Year Off With a Bang
By Felicia J. Slattery
Creating New Year's Resolutions for your small business can be a daunting task. Where do you start? Keep in mind New Year's Resolutions are simply goals for your small business. As a communication consultant, I suggest you consider thinking about the various ways you communicate in your business as a way to help you see success as a solo professional in 2008.
Following are seven types of effective communication skills which will easily launch your business into 2008 and beyond with the results you want.
5 Business Management Model Tools
Over the past 20 years in my consulting practice, I've developed a number of models that help me quickly assess business situations. Some of the bests for small business are attached and offered free for your personal use; however, please do not sell the attachment or use it as a premium without checking with me in advance for permission.
The attached models are good for determining:
1. After-tax weighted average cost of capital
Advertising Campaigns and Craigslist: Worthwhile?
By Kevin Sinclair
Craigslist provides a worthwhile media for an advertising campaign for any business offering their services and products. Any business owner can appreciate the financial gains of advertising on it, whether their services and products are available through real stores or e commerce websites.
The Benefits of Radio Advertising
By Budda Oliver
Marketing plays a vital role in any business and can ultimately determine the success or failure of a company. Although some perceive radio advertising to be too expensive for small businesses, and perhaps even an obsolete medium to reach audiences, they could not be more wrong. In fact, radio advertising is affordable and has proven to be the most effective medium for delivery of advertisements to targeted audiences.
Audience- Potential Customers
Advertising Today Pays the Bills Tomorrow
By Lance Winslow
They say advertising will help build your business and indeed Ted Tuner use to say; Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise. And the young Ted Turner meant it too. You see, Advertising Today Pays the Bills Tomorrow. Of course if you pay too much for advertising, which does not pull such as expensive Yellow Page Advertising or Yellow Page Advertising, which is too cluttered then the bill keeps coming but no customers come a calling.
Growing a Business - the book
 | Growing a Business author: Paul Hawken asin: 0671671642 |
In 1988, Paul Hawken (yes, the one from the Smith & Hawken fame) published a book called, Growing a Business. I picked it off the bookshelf in the spring of 1992 and it sat on my shelf until I hit the beach later that summer.
19 Indispensable Websites for Small Business
[This Article has a free e-book download. View the entire article to get it.]
The web has a lot of crap on it when it comes to small business. It seems like everyone has some website selling something. Most of it is largely unusable for a typical small business, but certainly racks up the sales for the Internet entrepreneur. For most, it's hard to separate the valuable from the crap without spending a big bucks.
