Tag Archives: sales

Do Catalogs Still Work?

About fifteen years ago, it seemed it was all about the mail-order catalog. Many people started out in home-based mail order businesses that were focused on catalogs that were shipped out to prospects and customers. With the onset and obvious popularity of the internet, more and more catalogs have given way to web sites and online ordering. Is it still worth it to use catalogs for marketing and sales? Judging by my mail box on a weekly basis—there must be some reason for companies to continue to print and distribute catalogs. However, I don’t get the plethora of small and … Continue reading →

You Want People to Move Around Your Web Site

A web site is not the same as print media. It can sometimes be tough for business beginners to understand or fully comprehend the capacity of a great web site. Many people just copy what they put in their promotional brochure or materials on to the web site and call it good. Having a little repetition can be good for branding–but a strong web presence can do so much more. It might help to think of how YOU use the internet and what you do when you visit web sites. Chances are you do not read each page from start … Continue reading →

End of the Year Sales and Discounts

Trying to clear out inventory and offering sales at the end of the calendar year is not a tactic JUST reserved for large department stores and retail corporations. You can appropriate this sales technique for your small home business too. You don’t even have to be in a product oriented business to make it work… If you are in direct sales or produce and/or sell a product then it might make more sense to you to consider an end-of-the-year sale. People tend to be spending money at this time of year and seemingly more discretionary income to spend so it … Continue reading →

Black Friday Comes Early

Retailers intend to kick off the Christmas shopping season early this year. In fact, some will begin today, three weeks before the typical Black Friday shopping extravaganzas. With high fuel costs, and other prices (including heating fuel) rising, people may be more cautious in their holiday spending. Numerous recalls of products from pet food and ground beef to toys and even toothpaste, have also left consumers with a bad taste in their mouths. All of these issues have retailers worried, so they are trying to give consumers a little nudge with earlier sales. As unsettling as all these issues may … Continue reading →

Too Pushy, Or Just Good Follow-Up?

Words like aggression, persistence, pushy, eager, and follow up can be ones that are tainted by perspective. What one person sees as good follow-up with a customer or prospect, another might see as being too pushy. Where do you draw the line? How do you know if your efforts and behavior are coming across as they are intended? And, how can you adjust to work with a variety of different individuals? To further compound the challenge—different industries, regions, and demographics will all have a different cultural perspective on what is appropriate when it comes to communications and contacts. In hard … Continue reading →

Watch Out for “I think,” “I guess” and “Maybe”

Confidence—we may think we are sending our customers the message that we are confident and competent, but the language we use might be giving us away. Many of us are raised to be humble and NOT “brag” about ourselves or our skills and that is fine—but if we let too much ambiguity creep into our language when talking with customers and prospects, we are sending a message that we don’t know what we are doing. If your sales pitches and interactions with prospects and clients are peppered with phrases like “I think” or “maybe” or even “I suppose” then you … Continue reading →

Auctioning Off Your Products or Services

I wrote about how you can promote your business by donating to charity events, but I thought I should expand on HOW to get your products or services in an auction—and what you can do to make it a successful way to market your business… You may be surprised at how many opportunities there are to auction off your products or services and this can be an excellent way to get them into the hands of prospective customers or clients. Also, you do not have to donate a product or service in order to have it in an auction—while this … Continue reading →

What is the “Clincher”?

I wrote yesterday about how to use “attention grabbers” in your marketing and as you go about promoting your business. I realized that if you have an attention grabber at the beginning, you really need to have something to “clinch” the deal at the end. I thought it might be worth our time to talk about ways to use “clinchers” in our business marketing and customer cultivation too. The goal of a good clincher is to seal the deal. You’ve come so far, you’ve cultivated and nurtured and explained all the benefits of your product or service and now it … Continue reading →

How Hard Can You Push Others…And Get Away With It?

One of the reasons I love my home-based business is that I really do like working on my own. I like not having to rely on others in order to complete projects or get things done on time. Still, we often have to deal with clients and customers who need to be prodded and pushed in order to accomplish things. The trick comes in learning how hard we can push and prod before we start to drive them away?! Of course, everyone is different, but I’ve learned that some people really need a bit of prodding and pushing and those … Continue reading →

Let Customers See and Touch Your Product

There is absolutely nothing like “hands on”–that is why so many business offer samples, put out touchable displays, and why people flock to see demonstrations at conferences and events. People want to touch, feel and taste something before they actually plunk down their hard-earned money to purchase it. Whenever you can in your home business, put your product or services right in the hands of those customers and prospects you home to sell to. Think of your own purchasing habits–aren’t you more likely to buy a car after you have test driven it a couple of times? And, if you … Continue reading →