Dial in to success: Telemarketing tips, targeting and testing the right way by Accutips.com

DNC legislation has plenty of direct marketers worried that the days of telephone marketing are as good as over. But several media sources reported great telemarketing tips in May, from broadening the scope of call centers to testing campaigns wisely.

In life as in business, every roadblock presents an opportunity.

Marketers who view the DNC regulations as a chance to re-examine their processes and results may well find ways to improve their company's CRM efforts, brand loyalty and profits all at once. The number one telemarketing tip of the month: Change with the times and adapt your phone power accordingly.

Here's a collection of the others we found:
Find new targets. According to Hayley Weinper, vice president of sales and marketing for Influent Inc., the Hispanic market remains largely untapped. Examine your other targeting options as well; there are new lists available every month, and if you find the right niche, you could hit pay-dirt.
Expand the channels your call center can address. Start accepting inbound calls and responding to e-mails all from the same department or headquarters. It's a way to ensure consistent, high-quality communication across more channels, which in turn can increase customer satisfaction and profit margin.
Consider outsourcing with an independent call center that specializes in your style of campaign or your industry. With the increasing level of complicated regulations surrounding telephone campaigns, many marketers sleep easier knowing their projects are being handled by firms whose sole job is to remain up-to-date on legal issues.
Test every campaign. Prepare your staff with good responses and rebuttals. Don't hesitate to listen to live or recorded calls, to hear how the market responds to your offer and your scripts. Modify your test as you learn from your mistakes. Document and analyze everything, so you can continually improve your odds.
Acquire your lists from quality sources. Make sure your list is as clean as possible. Ask your data provider how clean the list is and hold them to their promise.

New Study: 32% More Women 25-44 Read Direct Mail Over Email by Accutips.com

According to a new study by Baltimore-based Vertis Communications, 85% of women ages 25-44 read printed direct mail marketing pieces, despite the influx of electronically generated advertisements throughout the past decade.

This was a key finding from the company's study, titled "2007 Customer Focus: Direct Mail," released on Jan. 16. The survey of 2,500 adults measures both general and industry-specific shopping trends.

The study also reveals that 53% of all women surveyed ages 25-44 who have access to email read these advertisements, almost consistent with the 54% that did so in 2005. Furthermore, Vertis' study indicates marketers can increase the effectiveness of their direct mail campaigns by offering target consumers exclusive deals and coupons. 72% percent of total adults surveyed said they have replied to direct mail containing a "buy one, get one free" offer.

Additionally, 63% of all adults indicated they have responded to direct mail collateral offering a percentage discount on merchandise, up from 54% in 2005.

The direct mail study revealed the following additional results:

* Total adults who responded to direct mail via in-store visits, Websites, 800 numbers or mail remains steady, with 47% in 2003 and 46% in 2007
* The number of Hispanics who responded to direct mail marketing jumped drastically, from 38% in 2003 to 54% in 2007
* 57% of women ages 35-64 prefer that companies they express interest in, send follow-up communication through direct mail pieces personalized to their needs
* 38% of men 35-49 prefer generic direct mail when being contacted by a company in which they have expressed interest
* While 45% of total adults are open to receiving personalized, follow-up emails, younger men and women seem to be more responsive to this medium, with 52% of men ages 25-34 and 56% of women the same age stating email is an acceptable form of follow-up communication
* Text messaging is the most desired method of follow-up communication for younger men ages 18-24, with 23% desiring contact via text message from a company they are interested in, compared to 5% of women the same age
* Comfort levels of adults providing credit card numbers online have increased throughout the years, with 42% of total adults being "very" or "somewhat comfortable" in 2007, up from 32% in 2003
* 40% of total adults in 2007 indicate they are not at all comfortable providing credit card information online, down from 52% in 2003.

The Vertis Communications 2007 Customer Focus survey series also includes findings from the financial, credit card, insurance, publishing, casino gaming, retail and automotive industries.

Tips + Techniques Choosing a Database Vendor by Accutips.com

How to evaluate your current database services supplier—or select a new one—with complete guidelines for creating an RFP

How do you find the right company to provide all the database services you need—from cleaning and maintaining your current database to building a new one from scratch? According to the experts at Target Marketing Online, you do a comprehensive evaluation of each supplier you are considering.

To compile the RFP guidelines below, the authors turned to a recent database services survey. By studying the responses direct marketers gave to survey questions (such as "what do you look for when you choose a database services company?" and "what does a supplier have to do to give you good service quality?"), they were able to create a series of questions to be used in evaluating your vendors.

The same criteria you use to select a new database services supplier will also be helpful for evaluating your current vendor. It's not a bad idea to reevaluate from time to time. It can help you decide whether you're happy with your current supplier or it's time to put it out to bid. Ask yourself, "Is my supplier doing all it can to offer excellent service? Is my account team accessible? Will they be able to accommodate my future needs?" Your answers will be valuable indeed.

Once you've evaluated a number of firms' capabilities, the next step is to submit a request for proposal (RFP) to each firm you're interested in. Below is a comprehensive list of the issues your RFP should include.

Guidelines for Creating a Request for Proposal (RFP)

Your firm's current net revenue
Industry/market served
Housefile/database profile at present
Number of records
Customers vs. prospects
Source(s) of names
Mailing/media plans/frequency
Current enhancements
Service goals/requirements
Build a new database
Enhancement/modeling
Maintain/clean only

Other services that may be needed:
Mailing
Consulting
Analysis
Database access/software
Online databasing
Timetable/deadlines

Best of luck with all your prospects, and happy shopping!

Why Jerks Win At Direct Marketing by Willie Crawford

Have you ever noticed that some very successful direct marketers go out of their way to be cantankerous? Have you ever wondered why? Today we're going to discover their secret? It makes many of them millions!

Studies have shown that people buy on emotion and then justify it with logic. We buy new BMW convertibles because we know we'll look good in them. Then we rationalize that "BMW makes a very good car that will prove to be a great long-term investment."

Those direct marketers that come across as cantankerous, or even total jerks, are deliberately tapping into the emotional side of their market. They're doing something called polarization.

Polarization is the art, or science, of getting members of your market to take an emotional stance. You want to get them to either really like you - or dislike you. Those who are neutral rarely buy your products. Remember, people buy on emotion, even though they ‘re often not conscious of it. Getting people emotionally charged INCREASES your chances of making a sale!

One marketer that understands this concept and uses it brilliantly is copywriter Gary Halbert. Gary will tell you that he is the greatest copywriter alive, and he charges for his services accordingly. If you visit Gary's site at: http://TheGaryHalbertLetter.com you'll see that he is very politically INCORRECT. Gary goes out of his way to insult his audience, delivering smack after smack as he educates you on what good copywriting is.

Gary understands that not everyone is his market. So he creates strong feelings, and this drives away those who would never buy from him... and really endears him to those who appreciate his work. This tactic is very effective, and Gary has no shortage of customers making him rich.

Another marketers who understands this concept very well is Jay Abraham. I watched Jay Abraham, Stephen Pierce, and Rich Schefren orchestrate a teleseminar in 2004. Leading up to this teleseminar, they sent out a barrage of emotionally charged, very informative emails.

Their numerous joint venture partners also sent out a tightly orchestrated barrage of emails to their lists.

Those who saw the tremendous value in the free information provided in all those emails were charged up. They were so charged up that many could hardly wait for the teleseminar to take place. I was one of those nudged to sign up for this $497 teleseminar through all of those emails :-)

A final example of a marketer brilliantly employing polarization is a guy who calls himself "The Rich Jerk." I won't reveal his identity, but will tell you that coming across as a jerk is making him millions on the Internet. He is a very good marketer in his own right (he recently sold a website on Ebay for $379,000).

This "Rich Jerk" uses emotionally charged copy on his websites and it's very effective. Part of what makes his copy so effective is that he also incorporates proof of what he says. Reading this copy, you get emotionally charged up, and at the same time, you realize that you've encountered someone who can really help you succeed. You can see how he does this by reading his copy at: http://WhyJerksWin.com

By studying the examples above, you see that using polarization, or even coming across as a jerk, can be a very powerful marketing tactic. It can touch your reader at a deeper psychological and emotional level than many other marketing techniques. However, don't forget that another reason this works in the examples above is that these marketers also deliver tremendous value to their customers. They also PROVE their points.

Without also incorporating proof into their copy, this tactic probably wouldn't work. Without proof they would just turn prospects off. So now you know... jerks win at direct marketing because they employ polarization and proof.

Using Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) For Email Privacy

Need for Privacy

People have become hypersensitive about their privacy during the last few years. They now expect that their details will be used only for the purposes for which they have been provided and not shared by original trustees. This is especially true of email addresses because of the huge volume of unsolicited commercial email (spam) circulating the web.

In Australia and elsewhere, there are statutes requiring privacy when collecting and using personal information. (In Australia the Privacy Act (Commonwealth) was recently amended to include private sector use of personal information eg, medical records retained by private practices).

In an increasingly litigious society, there are not only sound business reasons, but legal reasons why you should ensure the strictest standards of privacy are applied to personal information of which you are custodian. Despite this, numbers of people using email unwittingly reveal the email addresses of other people to whom they are sending email.

This article tells you how to maintain client confidentiality when sending email to multiple addressees by using Blind Carbon Copy or BCC.

Blind Carbon Copy

The term Blind Carbon Copy is a hangover from the dim, dark ages before word processors when we used typewriters (some of you have probably never seen a typewriter). To produce multiple copies of a document, one had to place a sheet of carbon paper between sheets of plain paper so that the type key impact on the top sheet would be copied to the second sheet (and any subsequent sheets).

It was a somewhat messy, but proficient process. When one wanted to send an original letter to one person and copies to several other people without showing each recipient who the other recipients were, a BCC annotation was made on the original. Each copy displayed only the name and address of the individual recipient, but the BCC notation on the original showed to whom the copies had been mailed. A BCC looked like this: Bcc: Mr Tom Jones, 14 Weaving Court, East Melbourne VIC 3000

Some email programs allow you to enter email addresses into the BCC field and send them. When you do that each recipient receives your message, but the names of other recipients are not displayed.

That is why they are called ‘blind’ – they are not seen.

By using the BCC feature you preserve the identities of those who are on your mailing list and ensure that anyone receiving your email cannot email your list or harvest their email addresses and sell them.

Your Email Program

When you obtain an email program, make sure it has a ‘Blind Carbon Copy (BCC)’ feature. Programs such as Outlook Express and Outlook 200? have BCC capability. Although I have never used it, I'd be surprised if Eudora and other common email programs didn't have it too.

If when you click to send a new email your email client displays only the To … and Cc … boxes it may be that the Bcc feature IS available, but is simply not displayed. Try the View menu or Help menu to see if you can find a Bcc option.

If your email program has a BCC option that you can select as a permanently visible option, select it. If it doesn't, you may need to think about getting a new program.

How to Use BCC

When you send email messages to multiple addressees and you do not want each addressee to know who else has received a copy, use the Blind Carbon Copy field.

Simply enter all the addresses in the BCC field separated by a semi-colon, comma, or whatever your program uses. When you click the send button, your email will go to each individual with only his or her name in the To field. None of the recipients knows to who else the email has been sent.

Outlook 200? will allow you to send BCC addressed email without an address in the To field. Other email clients require at least one address in the To field before they allow multiple recipient addresses in the BCC field. Test the program you use to see if it needs to have an addressee in the To field. If so, address it to yourself. (Surprisingly, email programs usually allow us to email ourselves ... that's why I receive so many emails from Jennifer Lopez (just joking).

If you need to make an entry in the To field, place your own email address in that field and everyone else’s address in the BCC field.

Disadvantages

What you need to know about BCC is that some spam filters automatically delete email addressed in the BCC field so it never reaches its destination. This means that while sending BCC is okay for privacy, your email might not always reach the intended recipients.

A problem I had with Outlook Express 2002 was that if I sent my email using BCC I couldn't print a hard copy of the sent message with the addresses on it. I had to write address details on my file copies for record keeping purposes.

If sending BCC email is likely to be impractical for you, then you need to consider upgrading your email client from the standard run-of-the-mill version to a professional version. That's what I did.

Email Management Programs

If, like me, you distribute large quantities of email regularly to newsletter subscribers, clients, club members, colleagues or anyone else, you will be better off getting a program designed for high volume mailings.

I use and sell a heavy duty bulk email program that lets me do simply, many tasks not easy to achieve with standard email clients like Outlook 2002. For example, the program I use will allow me to:

Automatically record subscriptions to my newsletter
Personalise each email with a recipient's name or any other information I choose to include eg, place of residence
Send as HTML or plain text with or without attachments
Do a partial send to my distribution list eg, if I wanted to email everyone in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, clients 64-73 of 3,000 or all persons whose title is Ms I can do it

By having a separate program for bulk emailing, I overcome the problems involved with privacy and reduce the likelihood that my messages will be eliminated by overzealous spam engines.

If you rely on email to carry out business activities (and who doesn't?), it may be time to consider how well your email strategy meets the needs of your business in today's security conscious society. More information and a free download that will help you save time can be found at our site.

 

UNDERSTANDING MLM MATRIX PLANS by Judy Thompson

If you are already involved in, or are contemplating a business using network marketing or multi-level marketing (MLM) as your marketing strategy, the better you understand it, the wiser and more successful you will be.

Network marketing companies select a certain type of compensation plan for different reasons. In this article I want to give an overview of the “matrix.”

What distinguishes the matrix compensation plan from other plans? It is a limited width plan. The width generally ranges from 2 to 5 people on the distributor’s first level. As more people enroll, they go under those first level people. If, for example, there were 3 first-level people, there could be 9 people on the second level, and 27 people on the third level, etc. Thus, an organization could conceivably grow into hundreds, or even thousands of people. The company promoting the products or services will determine how many levels deep they will pay. The company will pay you a certain percentage of the product purchases for each person in your downline. If you have a downline of only a few people, your bonus check will not be very big. If you grow into hundreds or thousands of people under you, then you will be paid a lot more.

A matrix plan allows for “spillover.” Spillover occurs when someone not enrolled by you is placed in your downline, and thus, has “spilled over.” This can be a neat, exciting thing to happen to a new distributor. It should never be counted on as the primary means to build a downline. In fact, probably the majority of people in a matix plan will never receive “spillover” from their upline. To be a beneficiary of “spillover” you have to be in the right place, under an upline member who is doing quite a bit of recruiting. However, it can be a very helpful thing to someone who is serious about building an organization.

The biggest drawback to a matrix plan and “spillover” is that often it attracts the lazy type of person who doesn’t want to work. So, you have a bunch of people joining just looking for their “spillover.”

While the matrix compensation plan is used by only about 9% of MLM companies, it generally is very attractive to people who can just work their MLM business on a part-time basis. The low monthly volume usually required helps it to be a workable plan for both part-timers and the non-sales types. Thus, in spite of some disadvantages to the matrix, people who are willing to do some work are likely to find that success is truly within their reach!

Quiz: What Kind of “Sales Shoe” Are You?

Have you ever wondered what type of saleswoman you are? It doesn’t matter if you run your own company or sell for someone else – it is extremely important to know what your style is. What does The Sales Diva mean here? Well – let me throw my high heel on my desk here and I will explain.

Are You a “Shoe-In” With Your Customers?

The most important aspect of selling is to understand and relate to your customer. And before you can do that – you have to know yourself. Contrary to popular belief – you don’t have to twist yourself into a pretzel to be a success in sales. You don’t have to copy anyone else. You just have to be YOU – with all your quirks and also understanding your strengths.

The sales quiz below will help you determine what type of “Sales Shoe” you are wearing…and what areas of selling you need to improve. Answer yes or no to the following questions. Compare your point total to the scoring key at the bottom.

1. I enjoy the challenge of finding new clients.

2. I feel the most satisfaction with a client I have known a long time.

3. I like most networking events.

4. When I am faced with a difficult client I am not afraid.

5. I love when there are lots of details to put together.

6. Money is a motivator for me.

7. I get excited when I am working with a new client.

8. I love change.

9. I love getting out to networking events and meeting new people.

10. Following up with customers is easy for me.

11. Goal-setting is really important to me.

12. I get excited about unknown opportunities.

13. Self-motivation is one of my greatest skills.

14. I love people – that’s why I got into sales.

15. I rarely feel nervous when I ask for the sale.

16. I don’t tend to take rejection personally.

17. I love exceeding my goals.

18. People often tell me that I am a great listener.

19. It doesn’t matter what I sell as long as I believe in it.

20. I love learning and invest yearly in professional development.

21. I think that the word “selling” is a fabulous word!

22. I am an expert at asking questions.

23. I enjoy solving problems.

24. Relationships are my middle name!

25. My customers see me as an expert.

26. I have a clear picture of who my target audience is.

27. I know what I need to do to market myself.

Scoring Key: What Shoe Are You?

22-27 Points: High Heel Pump
You go girl! You are dedicated to helping people and making money at the same time. Just make sure to keep yourself on track – start a Success Team so you continue to stay motivated.

16-20 Points: Stiletto
Great score! You can run a block in your high heels and not even get a run in your nylon. Just remember – to maintain customer relationships – you have to slow down and pay attention to some of the details.

11-15 Points: Mary Jane Classic
You’re doing fine but there is room for improvement. Your shy nature may be holding you back in some areas. You don’t have to be behind the scenes – you get out there and shine! Try taking a public speaking class – it will do wonders for your confidence!

6-10 Points: Sneakers
You’re busy but not much is happening. You may be feeling a little frustrated at why success isn’t coming faster. Dig deep here – what are you afraid of? It’s time to get a mentor and also quit trying to do everything yourself.

0-5 Points: Flip-Flop
Don’t despair! Many of your attitudes about sales can be adjusted – if you’re willing. Use this quiz as a starting point to pinpoint the changes you want to make. Consider reading one professional development book a week and also getting some sales advice for your business.

How to Increase Your Sales BEFORE You Launch Your Product or Service

Want to increase your sales BEFORE you launch your product or service? The following are some of the most effective ways to do just that:

1. Use Social Proof
What is "social proof"? Simply put, we are all conditioned to watch what others are doing and follow along (think teenagers). Using social proof in your marketing helps you to influence your customers to purchase your products/services, get new prospects to sign-up for your list, and get people talking about you and your offering - and that's just the start.

So, how do you use this psychological trigger in your marketing?
One way is to use results-based testimonials. Ask your current customers or clients to give you results-based testimonials. They literally say, "I used this product and these are the results I got." Having celebrities give these to you is great, but make sure you have testimonials from REAL people. Those are the ones that are really going to cement the idea in your potential buyer's mind that they can do it, too.

2. Answer your prospects #1 objection
To take "social proof" to a deeper lever, anyone who is buying anything almost always has this #1 objection: "Sure, you can do it, but can I do it?"

In addition to using yourself as an example (if appropriate) as evidence that what you are offering does what you say it will, it's also important to make sure you get "social proof" from people in your client/customer's peer group. Then your potential buyer sees people like themself and understands that "Hey, it worked for them, it can work for me, too."

3. Use a time limit
Creating a sense of urgency around your product or service will make it that much more enticing to potential buyers. For example, Jeff Walker just released his "Product Launch Formula" and has promised to sell it for $997 for one week only. After that he will raise his price. He doesn't even have to tell us by how much. Just knowing that you have one week to buy at a lower price creates that sense of urgency.

4. Use a limited quantity
If you are selling a physical product and you are only having 100 produced, then use that information to create the same sense of urgency you would with a time limit. Use a countdown on your website to further create the feeling that if your potential buyers don't buy now, they may miss out.

5. Use a time or quantity limit on bonuses
Additionally, you could offer bonuses for a certain length of time (first week only) or for a certain number of products sold. For example, the first 30 buyers would get an additional special report (valued at $XX).

The last three strategies also help your buyers feel like they are part of your "club" when they join by purchasing your product or service.

Obviously, you can use these tactics unscrupulously, and I'm sure you've seen it or experienced it yourself. But if you want your business to truly be successful, in all the ways that are important and meaningful to you, then you must only use these strategies with integrity and honesty.

If you really are only going to print 100 copies of a physical product, then only print 100 copies. That doesn't mean that you can't do another print run. It just means that you tell your market that you're only going to print 100 now, and if you do decide to do another run, then they will have to wait another two or three weeks before they can get their copy.

If you really are going to raise your price after a certain date, or after a certain number of items are sold, then you must follow through. You can give your current base a chance to buy at the "original" price before you raise it, but you still must raise your price if you say you will.

Your integrity using these strategies will create more sales for you than ever before. But use them to manipulate your prospects and it will come back to haunt you...guaranteed.

Oh, the Mistakes Spokespeople Make

Question: What do many new spokespeople at technology companies have in common?
Answer: they make similar mistakes and fall into similar traps.
Based on my experience as a media trainer, the most common ones include:

1. Misunderstanding the Media. Too many spokespeople confuse PR opportunities with free advertising. Ouch! No reporter, editor, or host wants to be a billboard for your products or service; their job is to provide interesting and useful information to their readers or audience. And if you help them do so, you'll maximize your chances of positive coverage.

2. Misunderstanding the Spokesperson Role. Some spokespeople think that they're on a sales call when they meet the press. So they toss out puffery and hyperbole or try to "close on the objection." Then they become frustrated by the "poor" coverage, if any, that they receive. The key is simple: inform, don't sell.

3. Lacking Message Points. At first blush, it might seem that telling spokespeople to have message points is as obvious as telling them to wear clothes during an interview. But in fact, many spokespeople do arrive metaphorically naked for interviews - bereft of key message points. Deliver several strong messages well, and you might just see them in print or on the air.

4. Unleashing a Core Dump. When spokespeople feel the need to educate the interviewer about everything that could be known about their products, services, or companies, the interview loses focus. An effective spokesperson knows when to cut to the chase and assess what level of detail the interviewer is seeking.

5. Over-Answering. Most inexperienced spokespeople don't know when to stop talking. By babbling on, they increase their chances of being misquoted or driving the interview off-topic. Don't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - keep answers short and to the point.

6. Failing to Listen. A guaranteed way to irritate an interviewer is to interrupt or finish his or her questions. You need to establish a rapport and communicate respectfully - just as you would with a colleague.

7. Speaking in Jargon. It's often tough for spokespeople to adjust their technical level to that of the interviewer. But it's also critical. If you talk over the interviewer's head, you'll decrease the chances of an accurate write up; if you "dumb down" the information for a technologically-sophisticated interviewer, you'll likewise decrease the chances of getting the kind of coverage you desire.

8. Missing the "So What?" Too often, spokespeople focus on the intricacies of their technology and forget that ultimately, the game is about offering a better value proposition for your customers. Demonstrate how your products and services solve your customers' problems and help them achieve their goals.

9. Trashing Competitors. Spokespeople can easily lose credibility if they boast about overthrowing the 800-pound gorilla in their market space. Far better to talk about the unique features and advantages of your offerings and how you plan to increase market share. In short, take the high road when it comes to competitors - you'll do more to increase your chances of obtaining the good press you deserve.

10. Playing Tug of War. Some spokespeople believe that they need to come across as "tough," so that they can control the interview through intimidation. Bad idea; you might win a battle or two, but you'll still lose the war. Victory goes to he or she who controls the ink. So be a smart player and check your ego at the door. Are there other mistakes spokespeople can make during an interview? Sure. But if they can avoid the "Big Ten," they'll maximize their chances of a successful experience with the media

Are you leveraging your unpaid sales force

Five keys to growing your business through referrals

You’ve honed your technical expertise, you’ve established your business and got your team in place, but why was it no one told you you’d also have to develop marketing and sales skills?

That’s not what you were expecting when you established your professional services practice, be that as a lawyer, an accountant, a designer or consultant. In fact the idea of selling leaves your cold.

The reality is most of us dislike selling. Equally, we don’t like being sold to. This simple fact is often overlooked, yet it has the potential to be the key that unlocks the growth of your business.

People do business with those they know, like, trust and respect. In other words they want to build a relationship with you before they invest their hard earned money in your solutions and services.

Referrals are often the most powerful way to expand your business requiring little marketing spend and providing you with immediate credibility through the reputation of the person referring you.

But how often do you miss the opportunity to ask for a referral? Do you have a specific strategy and action plan to manage your referral process? Are you leveraging the support of your unpaid sales force - your clients who already know, like, trust and respect you?

Here are five keys to growing your business through increasing your referrals.

How to ask for a referral

Review your current clients and identify three of them that you can contact this week about the potential of them referring you to others.

When you speak with them, thank them for their business and tell them you enjoy working with them. Advise them you are in the process of expanding your referral based business. Explain that you would like to partner with them to help you grow your business and ask if they could refer you to 2 or 3 of their contacts.

Make sure you advise them of the profile of your ideal client that you would like them to refer you to. If they are able to identify someone, ask if they would contact the person ahead of you reaching out to them to introduce yourself.

Make your clients proud to refer you

Most of us delight in great feedback and there is nothing better than having someone thrilled because of the results they have achieved through working with someone you referred to them.

When a client refers you, their personal reputation is on the line. They won’t refer or recommend someone who they don’t believe in. It’s therefore paramount you deliver to your highest standards when working with the contact you have been referred to.

Connect with your potential new client

When you make contact with your potential new client, reference the person referring you and advise them that your mutual contact thought it would be a great idea if the two of you connected.

Make sure you don’t overwhelm them with your great technical expertise. Actively listen to their challenges and concerns. Offer suggestions and be generous with your advice - make them feel you have their interests at heart.

Remember, you can’t convince them to work with you; even though you have come highly recommended, they have to grow to know, like, trust and respect you on their own terms.

Keep your client in the loop

Don’t forget to keep your original client informed of how things progress with the personal contact they referred you to. That is not to say you should disclose anything confidential – just make sure they know that you have made contact and whether you are going to work together.

Reward your referral partners

Consider rewarding your referral partners, perhaps by entertaining them to lunch or introduce a different service agreement or fee structure to formally reward your clients for their referrals. After all, they’re helping you grow your business and are sure to remember to provide you with referrals more often if they know their support is appreciated.

Don’t wait for your workload to quieten down before you implement a referral strategy. To grow a thriving professional practice, business development needs to be part of your ongoing agenda. Developing and implementing a referral strategy can help you propel the growth of your business without the anguish of feeling you have to sell and with little investment in overheads.

You Haven't Earned the Right to Sell to Me!

How often do people try to sell us something before we have expressed an interest, have a desire, or are in the market for what they have? It seems the standard for many salespeople is to try to sell to anyone and everyone regardless of the interest level.

When someone attempts to sell us something before we have expressed an interest, the initial thought may be, “Why would I buy from you? You haven’t earned the right to sell to me!”

The fact of the matter is that selling, both online and off, is about determining if there is a need before ever attempting to match a buyer with a product or service. It is about providing enough information for the buyer to make the best decision based on their needs. And it is about gaining trust. The most successful sales professionals are those who are a resource before they are a vendor.

Having been in both brick-and-mortar and online sales and marketing for many years, it never ceases to amaze me how many people try to sell without determining the customer’s needs. They don’t seem to realize that the better the match, the more likelihood for return business. The better the match, the more trust gained. If you depend on repeat business or referrals, trust is absolutely a factor in your customer’s decision to come back to you when they need your product or service.

Anyone who has been in business for an extended period of time (or plans to be) would be hard pressed to believe otherwise. Whatever you are selling, the buyer’s experience from the initial visit and/or purchase will likely determine whether or not they will ever purchase from you again.

When a customer has a great experience from the beginning the chances of them turning into a repeat buyer is more likely. It is a proven fact: it is more cost effective to have repeat buyers than it is to constantly seek out new customers. That is not to say you shouldn't be adding new clients as part of your business model. Building trust with existing clients will add to your conversion rate more consistently.

What is often missed in the equation of sales and marketing is the lifetime value of a customer. Once the initial sale is made they are forgotten. With proper care, a one-time or occasional buyer can turn into a loyal buyer. And loyalty is more often than not based on trust.

We live in a “try before you buy” society. Because of this many buyers use what is referred to as the buying ladder. The buying ladder is very applicable to brick-and-mortar sales as well as Internet sales.

Before buying a high ticket item, buyers will "test the waters.” This can be done in a number of ways: by test driving a car, taking a tour of a home, asking friends and associates for a recommendation. When purchasing on the Internet it can be downloading a free information item or buying an inexpensive product from a website to test out the level of service, quality of product, delivery time, quality of information (in the case of an information product), and response time. It may even depend on the buyer’s “gut feeling.” What are your own buying habits? What process do you go through before making the decision to buy?

When you gain trust people want to do business with you. And they want to tell others about the experience. Have you heard the expression that if someone has a bad experience they will tell more people about that experience than they do a good one? I can’t say that I necessarily agree with this statement. There are occasions when I have heard people rave about a great experience over and over again.

Buying decisions are made for a number of reasons, but they ultimately depend upon whether or not the buyer trusts the process. And if they trust you. It is through the process of building trust that we have earned the right to sell.

Sales Leads: Maximize Your Sales From Longer-Term Sales Leads

Want to learn how capture and nurture three-quarters of the sales lead market through effective communication efforts?

First, you must learn to slow down. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? The same principles learned within that fable can be applied to your business marketing strategies today.

While business-to-business marketers race to snatch up the most promising and qualified short-term prospects that come in from any marketing-lead-generation initiative, nearly three-quarters of the sales leads that can convert to sales are being heavily ignored.

Why? Because salespeople are measured and paid for winning the race for short-term sales, usually causing them to focus on the easy sales opportunities and to ignore the longer term prospects. And because there usually is no process in place, the job of nurturing, managing and tracking the longer-term pipeline opportunities falls by the wayside.

This lack of a sales leads development process may be costing your organization big bucks in lost sales.

Do you have the patience to move slowly and steadily for the sales in those longer-term sales leads? Or have you, in essence, ended the race to win these latter-day sales?

Industry experts estimate that only one-quarter of those who are going to buy do so in the first six months. Yet, roughly another quarter buys within a seven- to 12-month period, another quarter buys in a 13- to 18-month period and the final quarter will purchase sometime after 18 months. If your organization's concentration is on the first quarter, for quick selling turnaround, you are leaving the remainder of those sales leads (three out of four sales opportunities) out there for your competition to pick up.

These longer-term sales leads must be nurtured with a series of communications efforts designed to move prospects along in their buying cycles. In other words, the philosophy to getting your share of those future sales is simple-stay in sight, stay in mind and stay in the race.

Here are 4 questions to ask yourself when designing your sales lead nurturing programs:

1. How do we best deliver messages to the people who will influence or make the final buying decisions?

2. How do we stay with them as they move through their consideration and buying process?

3. How can we communicate in a way that addresses the prospects' issues and reduces the perceived risk of buying from our company?

4. What can we offer that will cause the prospects to engage when they are ready to move forward with their buying process?

Want to engage prospects and start a sales-winning relationship with sales leads? Here’s how:

Use a series of ongoing communications-by mail, e-mail or phone-designed to keep pace with the prospects' information needs to make decisions about your kinds of products or services. I've found that, as an added benefit, sales revenue per customer is usually significantly higher for those who are included in the prospect relationship-marketing program versus those who are not.

Be sure to include multiple offers that appeal to all stages of a prospect's buying process. For example, if prospective customers are still early in their buying process, they will be more receptive to offers for free information in the form of how-to guides, white papers or e-mail newsletters. As prospects move further along in their buying process, appropriate offers may include those that require a higher level of interest or commitment on the part of the prospect. These include webinar invitations, demonstrations and checklists, and other decision-making tools. As prospects approach the buying ready point, they will be more receptive to such offers as longer, in-depth seminars, needs assessments or meetings with and getting proposals or quotations from your sales and marketing department.

If you use effective and efficient relationship communication skills and not just focus your company's efforts on the easy or short-term sales leads, you can pick up the three out of four sales that others are leaving on the table. And that how you to win the business marketer's sales lead race.

10 Steps to Successful Selling On Ebay

Step 1: Identify your market. Take a while to sit and watch for what sells and what doesn't out of the items you're interested in. Any market research data you can collect will be very useful to you later on. You'll probably see the sweet spots quite quickly - those one or two items that always seem to sell for a good price.

Step 2: Watch the competition. Before you invest any money, see what the other sellers in your category are up to, and what their strategies are. Pay special attention to any flaws their auctions might have, because this is where you can move in and beat them at their own game.

Step 3: Find a product: Get hold of a supplier for whatever it is you want to sell, and see what are the best rates you can get. Don't be afraid to ring round quite a few to get the best deal. If the eBay prices you've seen are higher than the supplier's, then you're set.

Step 4: Start small: Don't throw thousands at your idea straight away - get started slowly, see what works and what doesn't, and learn as you go. Remember that it's very cheap to try out even the craziest ideas on eBay, and who knows, they might just work!

Step 5: Test and repeat. Keep trying different strategies until you find something that works, and then don't be ashamed to keep doing it, again and again. The chances are that you?ve just found a good niche.

Step 6: Work out a business plan: A business plan doesn't need to be anything formal, just a few pages that outline the market opportunity you've spotted, your strategy, strengths and weaknesses of the plan and a brief budget. This is more for you than it is for anyone else.

Step 7: Invest and expand: This is the time to throw money at the problem. Buy inventory, and start spending more time on your business. Set a goal number of sales each week, increasing it each time.

Step 8: Make it official: Once you've made a few thousand dollars worth of sales, you should really register yourself as a business. Don't worry, it's not expensive or hard to do - a lawyer is the best person to help you through the process.

Step 9: Automate: You'll probably find that you're writing the same things again and again in emails or item descriptions. This is the time to give up on the manual method and turn to automated software that can create listings for you, and respond to completed auctions and payments with whatever message you provide.

Step 10: Never give up: Even when it looks like it's all going wrong, don't stop trying until you succeed. If you keep working at it then you'll almost always find that you make a real breakthrough just when things are starting to look desperate.

Once you get into the swing of things, you might start thinking that you should quit your job and take up eBay selling part time. But it's not always as easy as that - there are all sorts of factors that you need to consider.

How to Use Bonuses to Boost Your Sales

To boost your online sales, create partnerships with colleagues, and increase the overall value of your product or service, add a bonus (or several) to your offering.

Here are 5 ideas for bonuses you can use to increase your sales:

1. Offer a special report.

Take several of your articles with a common theme that complements your offering and compile them into a special report. If you don't have articles that seem to fit, think of additional information that you did not include in the original product and write it up as a special report. Use your word processing software to write it, then convert it to Adobe PDF to make it look nice (you can convert your documents into PDFs for free at http://convert.neevia.com/). Or offer a special report written by a colleague of yours with information that complements your offering.

2. Offer an audio.

If you are selling a product that is education-based, offer a follow-up teleclass to answer any questions that your customers may have about the material. Or record a special audio to go along with your product that offers some additional material that you didn't get to cover in the actual product itself, or that is an introductory or overview of the material covered in your offering.

3. Offer a resource file.

If you want to increase your customer's satisfaction with your product, offer a quality resource list, so they don't have to waste time and money searching for where to go or who to hire to follow your sage advice. Put together a list of the service providers, websites, ezines, books, magazines. etc. that you personally use (or that come highly recommended to you by your trusted colleagues) and that are related to your product or service. Create a PDF of your compiled resources to offer as a bonus. For example, one bonus that comes with my 21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success System™ is Alicia's 6-Figure File of Recommended Resources, which is a list with links of who and what I personally use to make my business run successfully.

4. Offer a workbook.

Just like so many self-help books do, create and offer a workbook, action guide, success journal, or the like to go along with your product or service. Pull out the main points of your material and create exercises to deepen your reader's understanding, or create sections in which your reader can add their own thoughts and ideas as they work through your information.

5. Offer a discussion list.

You can do this a number of ways, but the easiest and the one that will require the least amount of effort on your part is to create and offer a discussion list via Yahoo Groups or Google Groups. It's free and can help to build a community of people who have YOU in common, and it gives them a place to offer each other support. You can pop in and out at your leisure, maintaining and strengthening your relationship with your customers.

Another way to do this is by offering a membership site (which is an article for another issue) as a very valuable bonus. For example, with 21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success System™ I offered Charter Membership spots for a reduced membership fee as a bonus.

If you haven't tried tacking on a couple of bonuses to your offerings, do so and see what happens. My bet's on increased sales... :)

The Importance of Attention Grabbing Headlines.

It doesn't matter if you have a professional looking website, with a superb product or service. Nor does it matter if your sales copy is the best there is. Without the right wording in your headline, you will not make many sales. Do you know how to create the perfect headline?

A very good friend of mine, Mavis, made the fatal mistake of ignoring the importance of killer headlines. This mistake nearly lost her her business. She had a great niche product, hand-crafted jewellery. She was able to sell loads of beautiful items through her stall at a local market, but she wanted to start selling her wares to a wider market and saw the internet as the perfect medium.

With only basic computer skills, she managed to put a pretty impressive website together. Her sales copy was good, she put in the essential call to action, everything was just perfect, or so she thought.

So what did Mavis do wrong?

Simply, it was the headline. It just didn't work. It didn't have the power to grab the attention of the potential customer. The headline does 90% of the work when it comes to sales copy. Unless you can catch the interest of a customer, you have no customers. Not a plan if you are trying to make a living through the internet.

Did Mavis know how important the headlines where?

She did plenty of research before she set up her website. She read everything that she could get her hands on. Covering all the topics from web hosting to marketing, sales copy to advertising. But nothing on the importance of headline wording.

Everything she read she put into practice. Considering she knew very little before she started, she did an amazing job. Thinking that she had covered it all and with everything in place, she launched her site and generated lots of targeted traffic to it. She only made 2 sales in 4 months. Not looking good for Mavis is it.

She rang me up one day and asked me what was she doing wrong. She told me that she was at her wits end and didn't know what to do. She said that the website was getting lots of visitors, but they weren't staying there long enough to become customers. I went straight to view her website and as soon as the page loaded I could clearly see what the problem was. You guessed it, the headline. The powerful and hypnotic wording was just not there in her headline. That one, singular oversight was costing her dearly. The website was beautifully designed and easy to navigate. The sales copy was very professional, she used all the right calls to action and offered an excellent refund policy. But the fact is, no-one ever saw any of this because they never got past the headline.

I told her to come around to see me and I would show her how she could turn things around. Mavis and I sat at the computer and I showed her the good, the bad and the ugly of headlines on websites. Within a few minutes, she could see where she was going wrong. She just hadn't been using the right words to get the effect that is needed. You have to GRAB the attention of browsing customers, by using powerful, emotional and hypnotic words. So I made us another cup of coffee before we sat down and I showed Mavis how simple it is to make sizzling headlines.

You need to start by creating a 'benefit statement'. This is what will make your reader want to know about what you are selling. Then you sandwich the benefit statement with action words and phrases. These are the true ingredients of attention-grabbing headline writing.

Okay, so what is a benefit statement?

This is simply the end 'result' of what your customer will experience when purchasing or using your product.

In mavis's case we came up with the benefit statement of "own unique hand-crafted jewellery.' Then we decided to sandwich this with 'the perfect way to' and 'delivered straight to your door.' The result:- "The Perfect Way To Own Unique Hand-Crafted Jewellery, Delivered Straight To Your Door." We played around with a few more, but decided to give this one a go.

What happened to Mavis's business?

Mavis went home and immediately set about changing her home page. She removed the old headline and replaced it with the new one. Within 24 hours of Mavis uploading her updated website, 5 orders where placed. By the end of the month she had made sales of $1564. She hadn't made any other changes to her website, just the headline and it completely turned her business around. She did have the advantage of already having targeted traffic visiting her site. Before the change of headlines, that traffic just clicked away from her page, but with the new headline, they became drawn in, taking time to have a look at the exquisite goods that Mavis had to offer. Some people staying long enough to make a purchase. Goal accomplished.

In conclusion, the headline is THE most important thing to take into consideration when writing your sales copy. Getting it wrong can have devastating results. Getting it right can have positively profound affects.

Never, ever underestimate the power of headlines. Unless you want your business to suffer dismally low sales and never really make it off the ground.

If you are having problems writing your winning headlines, you could always pay someone else to write them for you. Or you can get a software program that will do it for you. The first option could be a bit expensive, but there are some fairly cheap software programs that you will be able to use every time you need new headlines, so I would recommend this.

How to Sell Your Expertise Over and Over Again

Putting all of your eggs into one basket in your business is never a good idea. Diversity is key, which means that your revenue should come from a number of clients (not just two or three) and preferably should come from multiple sources other than your primary service. These multiple sources of income are called "multiple profit centers", or MPCs, a term I first heard when I read Barbara Winter's book, Making a Living Without a Job, back in the days when I was trying to determine how to be successfully self-employed.

I've often been asked if your income sources should relate to your primary line of business, or if they can be varied and unrelated, like a writer who does copy editing and ghostwriting for a living but also owns rental property and scouts garage sales for gently worn children's clothing and sells it on eBay. You can do whatever best fits your personality, but I think it will keep you saner to corral your MPC's under your primary business umbrella.

Robert Allen, in his best-selling book, Multiple Streams of Income, discusses the "five rings of riches", which I think of as ever-increasing ways to create multiple profit centers. The rings include:

Ring 1 -- Sell Your Core Expertise: In this innermost ring, you are selling your core expertise as an accountant, attorney, web designer, security system installer, carpet cleaner, etc. To this ring, I want to add selling tools you've purchased to use in your business but you don't use all the time, like a telephone bridge line that you might subcontract out to other users.

Ring 2 --Teach Others Your Core Expertise: You develop ways to teach others your specialized knowledge or guide others in how to enter your industry.

Ring 3 --Teach General Skills: In the process of running your business, you probably developed a set of business management skills that have led to your success, and can pass that learning along to others in your industry.

Ring 4 -- Sell Other People's Products: You have in your arsenal a listing of both tried-and-true products you've used in your field of expertise, as well as a database of loyal customers. Why not introduce your clients (and potential clients) to these wonderful products?

Ring 5 -- Support Other Infopreneurs: By the time you reach this largest and final ring, you will have become an infopreneuring expert. Allen suggests that this is the time to offer services and advice to other infopreneurs.

Think of MPC's in this way: You own a great business and are phenomenal at what you do and everyone who needs your service should have access to your expertise. However, if you're in a time-based business, as many service business professionals are, there are only so many hours in the day that you have to work with clients. There are two ways to change this: to hire more staff or to replicate yourself. Hiring more staff (or even independent contractors) typically pushes up your overhead costs and will probably only increase your profit margin slightly. Replicating yourself is much easier, and I'm not referring to some Star Trek-like device. By replication, I mean having products available that will either bring clients into your marketing funnel and introduce you to them in a lower-cost, non-threatening manner, or better serve your existing clients without necessarily needing you to personally attend to the client.

The primary method of delivering products to your clients 24/7 and selling in your sleep is via a website. Technology exists that permit visitors to come to your website, read about what you do and how you do it, purchase any number of products from you, and have that all happen automatically. Electronic products are wonderful, as the delivery of that type of product can be 100% hands-off. A physical product that has to be shipped does require some human intervention, but that doesn't mean it has to be you! There are a number of fulfillment companies that have spring up over the years that you can pay to do your product fulfillment for you.

So, what kinds of products could you offer via your website? Here are ten ideas:

1. Special Report
2. eBook
3. Tips Booklet
4. eCourse
5. Audio tapes/CD
6. Teleclass/Telecourse
7. Membership Subscription website
8. Consulting/Training
9. Licensing your content to others
10. Selling other people's products

These ten strategies are only the tip of the iceburg. Take your content and what you know and re-purpose and re-package for profit!

How To Get Meetings With Decision Makers

'Getting in front of the decision maker' seems to be the holy grail of the sales world. Most people think that the only way to secure meetings is through luck or cold calling. Yet there is an easier way.

The following steps are identical to the steps I followed on my journey to becoming a 'Client Magnet'. Eventually, I didn't have to make any cold calls, because all of my meetings were taking place at the request of qualified, ready to buy decision makers who had already decided that they wanted to work with me.

How to Get in Front of Decision Makers - the easy way

1. Focus on a specific niche because that automatically makes you a specialist and a certain authority.

2. Get known as an expert in your field by speaking at events and conferences populated by your target audience, write articles and get them published in trade publications read by your target audience.

3. At the end of your article or talk offer a giveaway such as a free report that conveys your expertise, and provides valuable useful content to your reader. Give this in exchange for the reader's contact details and permission to stay in touch over time.

4. Send a follow up sequence of messages (automated if possible) that drip feeds further valuable content to your prospect, and subtly conveys your expertise, your authority and lets them know about success stories other clients are having.

5. Resist the temptation to ask for a meeting immediately, the people who are really keen to meet you will call and ask anyway, the others may need more time to get to know you. Don't risk scaring them off by pouncing for a meeting immediately. Being 'needy' for a meeting hurts your credibility too, because in the world of selling professional services, there's an unspoken assumption that if you are any good at what you are doing, then your diary should automatically be full (I know that's not how it works in practice, but that's the bias you're up against!)

6. In at least one of your messages, offer a meeting, but make sure you outline all the potential benefits of meeting with you. It's got to be more inspiring than 'free consultation.' Ask yourself, what does the prospect stand to gain from meeting with you - even if he or she DOESN'T become a client immediately? Will they learn something new, get reassurance, have their awareness raised on a certain area? If you want to 'sell the meeting' you have to sell the benefits of the meeting.

7. Some people will respond immediately, others will need more time. Have a regular follow up (such as a newsletter like this) that keeps you in contact, and continues building the relationship with your prospects.

8. Get used to receiving calls from people along the lines of 'we're thinking of doing a new project a we're wondering how you can help us'. Enjoy meetings which have a completely different dynamic from the meetings you secured via cold calling, because you've been invited in as an expert, and the prospect is already 'pre-sold' and wants to work with you. Notice that your conversion rate is higher at these meetings.

9. Tweak the process. If you're not getting enough meetings, what needs to change? Do you need to get more people into your funnel at the front end, or do you need to improve your conversion process of prospects to meetings?

10. Enjoy the process as momentum builds and the 'snowball effect' kicks in. Enjoy being a 'Client Magnet' and able to pick and choose from a tempting array of potential projects.

Because of the steps involved in laying the foundation, many people shy away from the easy way. It seems like there is too much ground work involved! And maybe there is, in the short term, but you are laying a foundation that will continue to reap rewards over and over. And what's the alternative? Another cold call?

If you don't want to be at the mercy of random projects coming your way, and you don't want to be tied to a desk cold calling for the rest of your life, then this is definitely the path forward that I recommend.

10 HEAVY DUTY Online Sales Grabbers

1. Give your prospects extra incentives so they will order quicker. It could be free shipping, a faster shipping option, free gift wrapping, etc. Another common example that we have all heard of is buy one get one.

2. Make your small business look big on the world wide web. Design your web site using professional graphics, ordering systems, organized layouts, etc. It's obvious, if you look professional more people will come to you.

3. Attract a lot more customers by giving them clear ordering instructions. Give them all the information they need so they can complete their order easily. People hate nothing more then having to go back and ask for help becuase it wasn't explained right in the first palce.

4. Give your customers buying incentives so they'll make repeat purchases. Offer them discounts, free gifts, bonus points, etc. Give them a reason to come back to you and buy again.

5. Tell people about your site whenever you get a chance. Those people will tell other people and so on. It's a cheap way to multiply your advertising. Word of mouth spreads very fast and the more places you advertise the better off you are.

6. Write and send press releases for your web site. Use a strong headlines, make it newsworthy, and tell the journalist why their readers would like it. Think big and think of the greatest reasons for why your business exists.

7. Use a lot of headlines on your web site and ezine. Some types of headlines are free offers, questions, problem solvers, sales, and statistics. It makes it seem like you are offering more and you can give a better first impression.

8. Design graphics, templates, buttons and banner ads for other sites. Allow people to use them in exchange for your web link on their home page. Make good relations with other web sites and advertise for each other, it could benefit you alot and you may get some good deals.

9. Use time saving promotional software. You can automate your search engine submissions, posting to online classified sites, etc. Automatic submissions are so much better then doing it the manual way one by one, you'll never finish and just waste time.

10. Advertise your online business by dressing in clothes that are imprinted with your ad. It could be a T-shirt, ball cap, coat, etc. We've all seen people dressed like that, wether it be for a construction business or McDonald's.

B2B Sales Lead Investment: Match Your Demand Generation Programs With Your Sales Needs

Billions of dollars from business-to-business marketing budgets are spent each year on sales lead generation. Billions more dollars are spent to fulfill and follow up on marketing responses, and to determine which sales leads are qualified and ready for sales attention. Unfortunately, much of this investment in B2B sales lead generation is wasted. Why? Because many sales lead generation programs and lead qualification efforts are not in harmony with the needs of sales.

With this in mind, have you optimized your company's sales lead generation programs to be in harmony with the needs of your salespeople, reps, resellers or distributors? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Have you built consensus with sales management on the definition of a qualified sales lead? Has this definition been clearly communicated to all parties?

Typical definitions include criteria such as:
- Does the prospect have a need or an application for your product or service?
- What is the prospect's role in the decision-making process?
- What is the prospect's timing for purchase or implementation?
- What is the status of the prospect's budget?
- What is the size of the opportunity?

2. Have you calculated how many qualified sales leads are needed in the sales pipeline in order to meet or exceed the company's sales revenue goals? Have you broken that number down into how many qualified sales leads are needed each month and each quarter? Have you built your company's sales lead generation programs with those target numbers in mind?

3. Have you put in place programs specifically designed to weed out the non-prospects and nurture the longer-term, not-yet-qualified opportunities-only forwarding the truly qualified sales leads to salespeople, reps, resellers or distributors for follow-up? Have you budgeted appropriately for this important sales lead development function?

If you answered "yes" to these questions, the good news is that you are not guilty of wasting your company's sales lead generation investments. Instead, you are probably well-respected by the people in sales and corporate management.

Web Site Traffic - 5 Inexpensive Ways to Generate it!

It is quite obvious that even the best optimised site with the best copy written sales page will not make a dime without one very necessary addition. That 'addition' is Traffic.

Whilst there are many ways to generate traffic most of them cost money with no guarantees that a profit will be made once you have parted with your cash. However, there are also many ways to generate good targeted traffic which need not cost the earth and, in some cases, are even free. Here are five of the best ways to generate low cost traffic; they do involve some input but are well worth the effort.

1. Exchange Links

This is a proven way to generate traffic and a careful study of the top ranking sites on the search engines will show all of them with considerable numbers of links. It is to your advantage to ensure that all sites to which you link operate within a similar niche or theme as your own site. If you share a similar subject you will be more likely to get traffic as your site will be seen as a recommendation by the site they are on.

Another benefit to linking in this way is that your site will increase its chances of a higher ranking with the search engines. This, in turn, can help with eventually getting traffic from the search engines in addition to that from the linking site.

2. Writing Articles

There are many sites on the internet where you may submit articles (newsletters, directories, etc.) Many of these are free of cost so if cash is tight you can start submitting to these initially. If you want to save costs, you can write the articles yourself. There are many freelance writers who are willing to write for you for a small fee, but to save money, it is wise to do the articles yourself if you can.

You should write articles that closely match the theme of your site. Try to write about something you know well. Give tips and guidance learned from your own experiences. In this way you will come across as an 'expert' in your field and this, in turn, can encourage your readers to then visit your site. Always include a resource box at the end of your articles which should be a short bio about yourself and include the URL to your website.

3. Traffic Exchanges

This is a form of link exchange except that members of a traffic exchange view each others pages by surfing. Each time you view a page you gain a credit so the more pages you view the more credits you receive. Your own page is then shown to other members normally using one credit per show. Once you have exhausted your credits you may earn more by again surfing. You also have the option to purchase credits if you wish.

Traffic from exchanges is not generally well targeted and does not produce many sales but it can be used quite successfully to capture names for your subscriber list with the use of a 'squeeze' page.

4. Your Own Newsletter

Once you have subscribers (via the traffic exchanges or other means) will need to send out your newsletter on a regular basis either weekly, monthly etc. This may sound a little daunting in view of the fact that you will need to write many articles on a consistent basis. However, this should present no problem as there a many writers and sites that are more than willing to provide you with free articles so long as their resource box remains at the end of the article. Any promotions you make in your newsletter will inevitably bring traffic to that promoted site and as your list of subscriber grows so, too, will your traffic.

5. Forums

Online forums and communities abound in just about any subject you can imagine. Find several forums that relate to whatever site you wish to promote and, after joining, you should carefully study the topics under discussion and then submit your own offerings by way of answers to published questions or even a question of your own. Make sure that the forum allows you to append your resource box at the end of your posting as this is where your traffic will come from. It is important to know that you are not permitted to blatantly advertise on these forums and to do so will usually mean you will be barred. So it is important that you are allowed your bio at the foot of your posting. Do not bother with any forum where your resource box is not permitted.

Each of these methods can generate a great deal of traffic and, with the exception of the traffic exchanges, the traffic will be very targeted. The method of using articles can, over time, build traffic to really large numbers. However it is important to remember that there are no free lunches in this world. If you do not pay with money then you must substitute with time. The great thing about these five methods is that you will never waste your time - they all get results, proven time after time.

Five Steps to Making Money With Other Peoples Products

If you want to make money online without having you own products, selling other people's products could be the ticket. Selling others products has many advantages. You do not have to spend time on creating the products, you do not have to set up a system to sell and deliver the products, and you do not have to get a merchant account and pay recurring merchant account fees. The person who owns the product does all of these things for you. All you have to do is market the product and make money with it.

So how can you make money with other people's products? People who have created products usually run affiliate programs. An affiliate program is a way for you to earn commissions every time you sell someone else's product. When you sign up for an affiliate program, you will get your own unique id you use to link to products you are promoting. Once you make sales using your affiliate links, you will generate commissions.

Here are five steps to take to make money with affiliate products:

- Find A Product To Sell. Before going any further, you need to find a product that will sell. A product should have a professional appearance, be presented on a professional web site and be a quality product that you would want to recommend to others.

Once you find the product, join the affiliate program for it and get your affiliate links.

- Create A Web Site To Sell The Affiliate Product. Having your own web site to promote the affiliate products is best. I always recommend that you get your own domain name and web hosting to host your web site.

The cost of domain names and web site hosting has come down considerably since just a few years ago. You can now get a domain name for about $8 per year and web site hosting for under $10 per month. At these prices you don’t have to be a millionaire or commit to a large capital outlay to start your own web site.

- Create Content For The Web Site. To get more visitors and more sales, you need content for your web site. It is not enough to just link to the product with your affiliate link. In order to make money with your affiliate link you need to bring potential buyers to your web site. A great way to bring them in is with content that is of interest to them, and is related to the product you are promoting.

One good way to generate the content for your web site is by creating your own content and articles that are related to the topic of the product you are promoting. Another good way is by using the articles that were written by the author of the product. Many authors allow their affiliates use the authors' articles on their web sites, and use the affiliate link in the resource box.

- Optimize Your Web Site for Search Engines. Search engine optimization is the process of modifying web page content and meta-information to improve the search engine ranking of the page. Successful search engine optimization will greatly increase the number of visitors that come to your web site. The more visitors to the web site you have, the more affiliate products you will be able to sell, and the more money you will make.

Make sure you optimize every page of your web site for search engines; that way you will get more web site visitors.

- Use Your Articles To Promote The Affiliate Product. Article publishing is a great way to drive traffic to your web site. Start by writing a few articles that are of interest to the people who would want to purchase the product you are promoting. Use the About The Author Resource Box to promote the product. Then take your articles and submit them to article directories. Doing this will bring more traffic to your web site and help you make more money.

Remember, you do not need to create your own products to make money online. Follow the five steps we outlined above to make lots of money selling other people's products.

Building Sales by Building Credibility...

When you're looking to buy on eBay, you'd want to check the seller's credentials. Does she have happy customers? Are there any complaints? What do they say about the way she conducts transactions?

It's the same if you're a consultant, speaker, or coach wanting to charge higher fees. Nobody will want to pay you more unless they know you have satisfied customers.

When a prospect scans your website, brochure, one-sheet, or direct mail campaign, there is one fail-safe method to establish instant rapport: testimonials.

Why should they believe what you state in your mailing? How do they know you're for real? Who else has done business with you? All of these are concerns your prospects have.

Your testimonials may mean the difference between more sales and leads, or them tossing out your message. That's why infomercials broadcast them every five minutes. Moneymaking websites usually have at least one page dedicated to them. And good sales letters include them in the mix.

Which is why you need them in your marketing: to build trust and credibility, to dispel customer fear and anxiety, and to make lots of money.

What to do first...

1. Ask your clients or customers who have benefited from your product or service to give you a brief testimonial. Usually they're more than happy to help. But if they're stubborn, you may want to offer an ethical bribe by saying, "I'll take 15% off your next order," or "I'll include your name in a drawing for my $500 workshop." And if they need help producing one, you can write one and have them approve it.

2. Make sure your testimonials are results oriented. Use specific numbers and amounts. For example, don't say, "I loved your tape album," or "Everyone thought you were a great speaker." These don't fly in this age of skepticism.

To increase trust use, "Your advice made me $40,000 in new sales the first month. We're on target to gross over one million dollars in sales this year. Thanks for your direction."

3. Use a real name and contact information from your client. Don't use initials. It just screams phony. Include a full name, title, brand name, company, city, state (and if applicable), a photo, and a website URL.

4. Include a good mix of clients. Depending on your target market, using high-profile individuals exclusively may not be totally necessary. A testimony from a work-at-home mom in Kansas can sometimes win more favor from prospects than a stuffed shirt CEO from New York.

5. And if you publish a website, a great credibility booster is using audio or video testimonials. Nothing is more powerful than actual clients edifying you or your products for the entire world to experience.

Testimonials are one of the least expensive, most productive tools to add into your marketing arsenal. But most entrepreneurs and business owners either forget or include ineffective, watered-down statements. Or sometimes they're too lengthy or even go overboard in their praise.

But not you...

Follow these steps today to gain credibility in a skeptical marketplace, lower your prospect's force field, and get ready for a dramatic increase in sales and leads.

Power of Testimonials

Acknowledge fears, face skeptics.

Why should prospects believe you? Chances are, your rivals are making similar claims to your company. And your prospect? He or she is probably more cynical than ever before and too buys to spend much time working out the differences between vendors.

So how can you convince prospects you are the real thing? Acknowledge fears, face prospects' skepticism and admit to flaws, problems and errors, says veteran marketer Lee Marc Stein.

Here's his 7-step strategy that turns skeptics into believers and buyers:

1. Recognize the power of skepticism. Every marketer knows the power of testimonials, but the most compelling and believable come from those who were the most skeptical. For example, "I doubted this system would reduce downtime any more than the other vendors we'd tried. But we've improved production 20%." Equally compelling are testimonials that include details of a problem the buyer encountered with your company and how they became a convert after seeing you fix it.

2. Use their words. Customers often say things in more credible language than you could ever imagine. That's why unedited user stories, quoting buyers verbatim and using their words to describe the benefits of your products or services pack a powerful punch.

A recent example: A new magazine targeted at men and women in the National Guard turned out to be a more powerful recruiting tool than anyone expected. Readers weren't attracted to the official stuff, but to the first person accounts with "real soldiers and families telling real stories," reports The New York Times, 2/01/05.

3. Look real. Instead of using fancy photos and professional models in your brochures— who always look too good to be true — try peopling them with real buyers and real workers.

4. Ask them to disqualify! If prospects don't believe you, ask them to disqualify themselves with a quick quiz. Overall, response will go down, says Stein, but your conversion rate should increase.

5. Acknowledge skepticism. If you know most people find your claims hard to believe, say so! Or if your industry has been plagued by companies overpromising and underdelivering, acknowledge it in your marketing material. Stein suggests saying something like, "We know you've heard the hype, the promises that are never fulfilled. But you can count on us."

6. Come clean about problems and stumbling blocks. By admitting faults in some areas, you'll increase prospects' confidence in other areas. It's basic psychology. So if you know your product isn't compatible with some systems, say so upfront. That's why warts-and-all blogs work so well: Customers feel like they're getting the whole story, not some glossy superficial brochure.

7. Provide altruistic value-added info. Another way to prove you're the genuine article: Provide value-added tools that help them help themselves. For example, you may want to offer a white paper that provides: "Six ways to run your business so efficiently you may never need our services!"

Be Direct - Profile of a Direct Marketing Consumer

Americans may complain about excess junk mail, late-night infomercials and telemarketing calls, but one thing is for certain: they work. Three-quarters of consumers who responded to a direct marketing offer in the past year made a purchase through a direct channel, according to a nationally representative in-person survey of 2,510 consumers age 16 and older conducted for Direct magazine (a sister publication of American Demographics) by Norwalk, Conn.-based research firm Yankelovich.

Consumers who purchase through direct channels differ significantly from non-purchasers in many ways, but most noteworthy is their anxiousness about saving time. Almost two-thirds (61 percent) of direct marketing purchasers say that they regularly multitask in order to save precious minutes, compared with less than half (47 percent) of non-purchasers. They are also more likely to buy takeout food, give up sleep and hire people to do things for them. Direct marketing consumers also lean on the Internet more heavily: 70 percent of purchasers say that they shop online, compared with 48 percent of non-purchasers, and 27 percent make financial transactions over the Internet, compared with 14 percent of non-purchasers. As a result, they are also much less skittish about disclosing personal info online: While 58 percent of non-purchasers agree that it isn't safe to use a credit card to buy something online, only 44 percent of purchasers feel the same.

How To Improve Your Publicity Design

Freelance designers who specialize in marketing materials are in high demand. As a result, freelance promotions designers can make up to $90 per hour. So what specialized skills do you need to be a publicity designer?

Actually, you don't need any. To move into freelance publicity design, all you need to do is:

1. Familiarize yourself with the conventions of direct selling promotional materials

and

2. Develop a basic understanding of your clients' marketing goals.

I'm a copywriter and I work with designers. I prefer to work with designers who understand the marketing aims of the graphic design assignment I hand to them. I tend not to call upon designers who design visuals that are unsuitable for the sales messages I am trying to communicate in my copy, however good the design looks.

That’s why the tips I reveal in this article are not really ‘design’ tips. They are practical tips aimed at giving you clarity when you interpret your brief. If you want tips on what colors or effects to use, this article isn’t for you. If you want ideas to help you plan your approach to publicity design, read on.

Direct selling promotional material
Direct selling promotional material has one objective: to sell. Every copy section, every photograph, every flash box, every graphic—should reinforce the selling power of the publicity piece.

But surely your job as designer is to make direct selling promotional material look attractive?—it’s the copywriter’s job is to sell the product, right? Wrong. Your job is the same as the copywriter’s: to sell the product. Making the piece look attractive is important, but it’s a means to an end. The real goal is to help your client increase their sales.

So what approach should you take to sell a product through design? Here are 5 questions to ask yourself as you’re reading the brief:

1. WHO IS THE CUSTOMER? What sort of people will read the publicity and buy the product? A clear description of your target audience will help you gauge what sort of feel your design should have. The look of your design should always reflect the preferences of the customer, not your own preferences or the preferences of your clients.

2. WHAT ARE YOU COMMUNICATING? What emotions should you convey? What specific things should you draw the reader’s attention to? Read your client's copy carefully. Use the message of the copy, especially the headlines, to inspire the ‘message’ of your design.

3. HOW CAN YOU REINFORCE THE MESSAGE OF THE COPY? Is your design consistent with the messages in the copy? Can you increase the impact of the copy message in your design approach? For example, if you're designing a brochure for some computer software, and the dominant marketing message seems to be that the software is 'easy to use', your design should reflect clarity and freedom, maybe with lots of white space and clear copy sections. In short, don't rely on your client to brief you properly on what the design should achieve. Take the initiative to work it out yourself.

4. CAN YOU SHOW PRODUCT BENEFITS? Can you demonstrate how good the product is through your choice of visual? Can you show how the product makes a real difference to people’s lives? Read through the copy and make a note of all examples of what the product does for the user. Then think about how you can demonstrate people benefiting from the product in your graphics and choices of photos.

5. HOW CAN YOU PRESENT THE PRODUCT? Can you show the product? Even better, can you show people using the product? Publicity that shows people is proven to be the most successful at driving sales. Good publicity should encourage readers to imagine themselves using the product—so show people of the same demographic using the product! Get as many pictures of the product as possible, and work these pictures into your design.

In marketing, successful design isn’t necessarily the best-looking, it’s the design that best complements the selling message of the copy, thus leading to more sales. Ugly publicity can be successful if it effectively communicates the selling message in a persuasive way for the target audience. Pretty publicity that wins prizes isn’t necessarily successful publicity.

If you want to learn more about improving your publicity design, start by learning about what makes good copy. Work out what the copy is doing and you’ll have a better idea how the design should reinforce it. My advice: Read a good copywriting manual.

Design custom brochures
Brochure design is challenging. The brief to produce an attention-grabbing cover with clean, consistently attractive pages can be daunting. Where do you start?

Remember your best-practice approach for designing publicity. Think about the reader and think about the essence of the product, service, or company that the brochure is selling.

Below are 13 tips for designing custom brochures that sell.

1. Find out what worked in the past. Take a few minutes to go through past publicity with your client to identify a successful look. If the target audience responded well to a particular style of publicity, there may be no point in reinventing the wheel.

2. Ask your client if the company has a house style and if your brochure should be consistent with it.

3. Keep in mind the product’s or company’s brand values when you are creating your general look. Ask your client to come up with five words that reflect the company's brand image and try to respond to them in your design.

4. For a general starting point, communicate an idea, a visual metaphor, or emotion that is associated with the product. Search the royalty free photo sites like Getty-Images or I-stock for images that respond to the general mood—but bear in mind your client will need to pay to use them.

5. Focus the visual idea on the product's Unique Selling Proposition. The U.S.P. is the one thing that readers will find most desirable about the product that is only true of that product.

6. Make the headlines stand out. Reinforce them with visuals if possible.

7. Use photographs as visual anchors. Faces help to humanize the design and make the product or company feel warmer and friendlier. Photos of people who reflect the target demographic work well because they help readers to imagine themselves using the product.

8. Ask yourself what consumer-need the product responds to, and use this as inspiration for your visuals. Some designs work well because they remind people about the nasty things in life they seek to irradiate, then present the solution with a photo of the product.

9. Use visuals to demonstrate the product:

- If the copy is highlighting a benefit, show somebody benefiting.
- If the copy is highlighting a feature, show it (for example, if it’s a small hand-held, show it to scale in someone’s hand; if it has lots of components or is part of big package, take a collective pack shot.)
- If the copy is highlighting the product’s popularity, show lots of people, preferably using the product.
- If the copy is guaranteeing the product, give it a guarantee stamp.
- If the copy is offering a money-back guarantee, show cash or a check.
- If the product is endorsed, show the endorser using the product.
- If the copy is leading with an impressive statistic, show it visually in a table or graph.
- If the product solves a problem, show a ‘before’ and ‘after’.

10. Each spread of the brochure should seek to catch the reader’s attention anew, to keep readers hooked so they carry on turning the pages.

11. Keep to a consistent style but try to let the design evolve with each page. A good brochure should tell the product’s story; it should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Try to reflect this in your design.

12. Give the reader two options: to skim read and pick up the core messages from the headlines, sub-headings, visuals, and captions… And another option to read the headlines and the body copy linearly. Do this by creating a reading area where the general body copy fits into, but also pull out some of the additional copy messages, visuals, and flashes to catch the attention of wandering eyes.

13. Recommend using printing techniques to reinforce the message of the copy, such as spot varnishes, holograms, die-cuts, unusual folds, indented pages, additional pantones, and pull-outs.

When Should You Increase Advertising Spend?

You may get a bigger payoff from increased spending on advertising if you wait until the economy begins to contract, says new research. That doesn't mean advertising in a healthy economy is a waste of money. But when advertising spending is already high, there's a risk of "overspending," says the study. Too much advertising may help rivals by increasing a buyer's awareness of a category and not your company's brand!
Conventional wisdom was right

To examine the long-term return from advertising, researchers analyzed the performance of nearly 2,700 companies — and grouped them by type (consumer, industrial and service). They then compared returns from advertising in recessions and upturns. They found advertising was an asset that contributed to a company's financial performance for up to three years. And increased spending during a recession produced greater benefits than increased spending when the economy was doing well.

One reason for this outcome: Advertising sends a positive signal about future performance to investors. It works in much the same way that exhibiting at a trade show during hard times may inspire confidence in customers and sales partners.
What this means

If increasing advertising pays during a recession, what's the impact of budget cuts? You may lose momentum, but it's not fatal, finds the researchers. Here's why. Past advertising has a cumulative effect that can help you maintain your position for three years. But to get the biggest bang for your buck, they urge companies to maintain spending at a steady pace.

The researchers also found that not all companies are equal. Advertising spending had a bigger impact on consumer and industrial products than it did on service companies.

Where Consumers Do Their Product Research

Ever wonder where the vast majority of consumers do their research?

So, how do consumers find out about your products or services? Today everyone thinks that consumers go directly to the web to learn about products and services. But according to a recent survey by eMarketer, consumers are still seeking information in retail stores. The web was the second most popular destination for product research, but retail stores were number one.

If you are in a business that sells through retailers, its important to realize that consumers are going to retailers first and using the web to complete their research. Be sure to create point of purchase displays or product packaging that will provide all the information a consumer will need to make a buying decision.

It's essential that your web based information is in synch with in-store information, pricing, and so on. If consumers see inconsistencies in pricing, variety, or options, they're likely to frequent another vendor or simply buy on price.

Many retailers are using their websites to capture customer information. This can be done at the store level as well. Ask purchasers and browsers to sign up for a newsletter or coupons that will bring them back to your store.

Collecting Information on Your Competitors

Discover the Do's and Dont's of competitive intelligence.

Collecting information about your competitors makes good business sense. However, you must do so in an ethical and reasonable way. Competitive intelligence from public sources, customers, and third parties can help businesses anticipate market opportunities, trends and competitive strengths and weaknesses.

These guidelines provide a step-by-step guide for acquiring the information you need without crossing the line.

1. Ask questions - If you come across or are offered competitive information and believe that it may be confidential or proprietary ask questions to find out how the information was obtained, or why it was made available.

2. Be ethical - How would you or your business react if you found out that your competitors were receiving the kind of information that you acquired? If you think that a particular way of gathering competitive intelligence may be unethical, you should assume that your competitors would view it the same way.

3. If it doesn't seem right, don't do it - If you're ever in doubt as to whether a source of information or contemplated technique of gathering information is proper or legal, you should contact your manager or attorney.

4. Breaking the law has consequences - If you improperly gather or use competitive information, you can be disciplined or terminated, and you could face criminal and civil penalties. Breaking the law can also result in adverse publicity to your company. Think about how you'd feel if your actions were publicly disclosed on the front page of a newspaper.

5. Legitimate sources of competitive information include:
Public sources. You may gather information about your competitors from public sources such as:
Newspapers, magazines, other published articles and television programs
Advertisements and brochures intended for public distribution
Information freely available on the Internet and online research services
Public filings made with governmental or regulatory authorities, such as SEC reports, patent filings and litigation records
Analyst reports
Industry surveys or reports
Public presentations given by competitors at trade shows and conferences
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and similar requests from governmental or regulatory agencies
Conversations with customers. Talking with customers is essential. The more you know about your customers and their businesses, the better you can meet their needs. However, you shouldn't contact customers for the purpose of obtaining confidential information about a competitor. Customers may disclose information about a competitor's products or pricing, so long as the information is not confidential.
Hiring third parties to obtain information. Sometimes company's hire third parties to help us gather competitive intelligence and information about the market for products and services. Third parties are subject to the same standards of behavior that you abide by, so you should assume that if we can't do it directly, you can't hire someone else to do it.
hird parties conducting focus groups or interviews with a competitor's suppliers or customers generally don't have to identify you as their client, so long as they identify themselves and their company. While a third party doesn't have to disclose the purpose of the focus group or interview, the third party shouldn't intentionally misrepresent the purpose.
A few of your competitors may have informed you that you cannot subscribe for their products and services. In these cases, you should not hire third parties to access the competitor's products or services. However, absent knowledge that a competitor would have barred or prohibited your access, you may engage a third party to subscribe to the product or service.
Keep in mind that your company can sometimes be legally responsible for damages or losses caused by a third party if you authorized or appear to have authorized any illegal actions. This can be the case even if you don't issue direct instructions to the third party, but know of the third party's likely conduct and "turn a blind eye".
If you engage a third party to gather competitive information, you should have the third party confirm that it is aware of, and agrees to abide by, applicable laws related to competitive intelligence.

Some types of information gathering, however, can violate the law or may be considered unethical. Some examples Include:
New Hires. What you can and can't ask former employees of competitors.
ou shouldn't ask or encourage employees who previously worked for a competitor to divulge confidential or proprietary information about the competitor, such as specific details about a competitor's operations and intentions, including pricing, future plans and forecasts which may have been considered confidential or proprietary by a competitor.
If you previously worked for a competitor, you shouldn't disclose information about your former employer that you believe is confidential or proprietary, or bring any of this information into your office.
However, you may discuss items of a general nature with an employee who previously worked for a competitor including anything that's a matter of public record or that wasn't treated by the employer as confidential.
Misrepresenting your identity. You shouldn't misrepresent your identity in order to obtain competitive information, if the person you're seeking information from would not ordinarily give you the information if they knew your true identity. This can be considered fraud. For example:
You shouldn't contact a competitor, posing as a customer, student, private research firm or potential vendor/supplier, to find out information.
When providing information in order to gain access to a competitor's website, you should answer all required blanks accurately, but you don't have to fill in blanks that are not required.
Stealing information.
You shouldn't attempt to acquire a competitor's confidential or proprietary information through illegal means, such as theft, spying or hacking.
You shouldn't perform any surveillance or monitoring of competitors outside of public places or engage in any form of electronic eavesdropping. However, if you're sitting on an airplane or are at an industry conference and happen to overhear a competitor discussing a confidential matter in the row ahead of you, the competitor likely has no reasonable expectation of privacy.
Giving gifts for confidential or proprietary information. In gathering competitive intelligence, you should not give entertainment, gifts, favors or gratuities to induce someone to provide you with information that's confidential or proprietary. You may, however, pay third parties for competitive intelligence that's derived from legitimate sources.
Anonymous packages containing confidential information. If you receive anonymous submissions of competitive information you shouldn't distribute or use the information.
Information marked "Confidential." etc. You shouldn't use or purchase information belonging to a competitor that is marked "confidential" or "proprietary."
Offers to access competitors' products and services. If you're offered access to a competitor's product or service by a customer, friend or other person, and you ordinarily would not be able to access the product or service on your own, you should decline the offer.
Misplaced or unattended confidential information. You shouldn't use confidential information belonging to a competitor that is accidentally misplaced or left unattended.
Dumpster diving. This is inappropriate and it may also be illegal.
Competitive bid information. You shouldn't seek or use information that you may receive about a competitor's bid if you're involved in bidding, especially on government contracts. However, you are free to use information that is disclosed by the government, publicly available or retrievable pursuant to a FOIA or other similar request.
Information offered in business pitches. If a customer offers competitive information to us during a business pitch, we should understand that the customer may owe a confidentiality obligation to our competitors who are also pitching for the business. As such, we should generally decline to receive information under these circumstances. However, if we are being told something very general or high-level, it may be appropriate for us to use this information in our bid and in our larger business strategy.

Regardless of what method you use to collect competitive intelligence, if you have any question as to the legality of your activity, err on the side of caution and chose another method!