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Article Marketing - What's The Difference?
Writing and distributing articles is one of the best ways to generate interest in your business, gain quality incoming links to your website, and increase your page rank all at the same time.Unfortunately, with so much hype about article marketing it’s easy to become confused about how it really works and what you can do to create a successful article marketing campaign.Search engine technology has improved tremendously, which means that link farms, link exchanges, Meta tags (not as important as they once were, but are still recommen

culate the 'share' of this net potential you wish to achieve. This share will be based upon a combination of hard and soft data such as: developments within the client organisation, your historical earnings from the client, changes affecting the clients industry, your firms strategic direction, and your firms relationship with the client. This value is now your sales target for this client.

4) Develop a client-specific strategy for achieving the sales target. A good sales strategy will include:

A combination of personal actions designed to build interpersonal relationships with key client person

Birds of a Feather May Be Turkeys
Birds of a Feather May Be TurkeysBy Gene Griessman, PhD Birds of a feather do flock together. It's true. Given a choice, most of us will seek out people who think like we do, people with whom we feel comfortable, those we won't quarrel with. Visit any company cafeteria and you will noticethat the people at the tables will be in groupings from the same discipline, department or ethnic group. As a general rule, relationships do not usually thrive when there are profound differences in values, abilities,temperaments or li

Lets face it...winning new business is fun. Particularly in service firms where there is substantial personal involvement required to gain clients. But the jubilation of landing new accounts often leads to problems.

While you're focusing on gaining new clients, settling them in, and organising the recently won project, what about your other clients? Remember them...you know, the ones that still want you to do work for them. Their requirements may not seem as exciting as they once were, but you cannot afford to ignore them.

It is often the case that service firms do not have a formal sales development plan. There is little prospecting or account management done on a regular basis and this can mean from time to time the call goes up to "Get out there and sell". This is usually triggered by an impending revenue slump -- often brought about by either a major project that is nearing completion, a sizeable client that has cancelled work, or an industry wide (or seasonal) trend.

One of the major shortcomings with this reactive style of sales management is that relationships with clients go cold. And yes, this is sales we are talking about. Although in your firm you may call sales by another name such as revenue, billable hours or fees.

When you are busy on new 'exciting' projects, other customers may sense they are being neglected and start shopping around for other firms to deal with. Sometimes the first you know about this is when your client contact staff get back in touch with the customer in response to the "Get out there and sell" directive. Too late.

Whilst it is advisable to increase your 'share of market' by looking for new clients, it is wasteful to ignore the existing relationships and potential value of current clients. A better idea is to also consider maximising your 'share of customer'.

How do you take a 'share of customer' approach? Follow these steps: 1) Identify the sales potential of each client. The 'potential' is the total value of all services (of the type you offer) consumed by this client over the next 12 months, regardless of whom they currently source them from.

2) Subtract from this potential the value of any services that are not open for your firm to supply. Limiting factors may include the clients current contractual obligations, their sourcing from a related subsidiary or division, or relocation/rebuilding of facilities or plant etc.

3) Calculate the 'share' of this net potential you wish to achieve. This share will be based upon a combination of hard and soft data such as: developments within the client organisation, your historical earnings from the client, changes affecting the clients industry, your firms strategic direction, and your firms relationship with the client. This value is now your sales target for this client.

4) Develop a client-specific strategy for achieving the sales target. A good sales strategy will include:

A combination of personal actions designed to build interpersonal relationships with key client personn

Over Design, Dome and Ring Beam Construction
In the mid 1960's I was working with Post Tension concrete projects in the southeast United States for Noble Concrete, Inc. Many of our large projects would be stressing ring beams for dome concrete buildings. Domes exert a large lateral load on the walls of the buildings upon which they set. The ring beam is what holds the walls from falling outward from the weight of the dome.In concrete construction there is usually a large safety factor built into the construction in the way of extra steel bars. Post Tension concrete is a little dif

pment plan. There is little prospecting or account management done on a regular basis and this can mean from time to time the call goes up to "Get out there and sell". This is usually triggered by an impending revenue slump -- often brought about by either a major project that is nearing completion, a sizeable client that has cancelled work, or an industry wide (or seasonal) trend.

4) Develop a client-specific strategy for achieving the sales target. A good sales strategy will include:

A combination of personal actions designed to build interpersonal relationships with key client person

Ready, Set, Advertise
Most of us are impatient; we want our advertising to spark an immediate sales increase. That's equivalent to giving a builder one week to construct a three-bedroom home without a blueprint. Think of the planning process as drawing a blueprint for your advertising campaign structure. First you design the framework, next you fill in the details, and finally you begin to build. I. Design the Framework What is the purpose of your advertising program? Start by defining your company's l

ch as revenue, billable hours or fees.

4) Develop a client-specific strategy for achieving the sales target. A good sales strategy will include:

A combination of personal actions designed to build interpersonal relationships with key client person

Top Ten Tips for Book Titles that Sell Well
A clever title is great if it is clear, but a clear title is always preferable. The best? A clear and clever title. A shorter title is better than a longer one. Your reader will spend only four-eight seconds on the cover. While some long titles have succeeded, usually the shorter, the better.A title is part of your book's front cover. Busy buyers including bookstore buyers, wholesalers, distributors and your audiences buy mainly because of the cover. Dan Poynter, author of Writing Nonfiction, says, "The package outside sells the product ins

f customer'.

4) Develop a client-specific strategy for achieving the sales target. A good sales strategy will include:

A combination of personal actions designed to build interpersonal relationships with key client person

Dare to Be Different!
Adding value to your site, service, or product is one of the most over looked and under rated strategies for improving your internet business.The internet and modern technology makes it possible for anyone to offer that little something extra that nobody else does, and usually at no additional cost.Why: First, let’s look at why this is a good business practice.It’s a good thing to do because you will make more money!What: Now let’s look at what value adding is!Value adding is giving surprise high quality and usef

4) Develop a client-specific strategy for achieving the sales target. A good sales strategy will include:

A combination of personal actions designed to build interpersonal relationships with key client personnel. Such actions would likely be:

- Personal visits to client premises

- Using corporate hospitality to entertain clients

- Attending industry events

An educational component to advise your client of your firms capacity to assist them.

A critical review of current projects to ensure a better understanding of the clients needs and to maintain customer service standards. In particular a review should cover elements of interest to assist in achieving the sales target - client staff changes, client attitudes, competitive intelligence etc.

5) Incorporate the sales target and strategy in your firms regular review procedures. Staff will report not only on new and current projects, but also on the development of your sales 'pipeline'. The review process should also check the status of any limiting factors, as at some point they will change.

By adopting a share of customer approach to managing your sales you will create a proactive structure in which sales opportunities can be monitored and fostered. In particular, you will be able to capture and document important information regarding client developments and potential sales that otherwise may leave the firm with changes in your personnel.

So you can still have fun winning new business...but remember to get your share of 'old' business as well.

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.added4u.com/article/35856/added4u-Get-Your-Share-of-Old-Business.html">Get Your Share of Old Business</a>

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[url=http://www.added4u.com/article/35856/added4u-Get-Your-Share-of-Old-Business.html]Get Your Share of Old Business[/url]

Asking for a raise is difficult under the best of circumstances. Asking for one in today’s economy and business climate is down right brave. However, the fact remains that if you believe you deserve a raise, you need to make the request.

Thinking big for growth is what has worked for many big name successful businesses, and it can work for your business.

Direct-mail marketing works for so many things and it works in nearly all types of businesses. Targeted direct-mail advertising works the best for retailers who pick a specific zip code or zone where they believe their customers to be.

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Added for You - Get Your Share of Old Business

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