Happy Holidays!

December 16, 2008

 

This will be my last blog here in 2008 as I’ll be taking a much-needed break for the holidays. But be sure to check back in the New Year to see my brand new blog look, newsletter, book, website, and more to help you boost sales, awareness and credibility…fast!

And at this time, I’d like to send out a special note of appreciation to all of you. Thanks so much for reading my blog and providing all of your wonderful comments, questions and insights this past year. I’m thrilled to be able to provide you with information you can actually use to help your business grow.

I hope that you and your families have a very happy and healthy holiday and a prosperous New Year!

Melanie


Holiday Cards-An Opportunity to Make Contact

December 11, 2008

 
As the holidays approach, you are probably swamped with year-end work activities and preparing for your own personal celebrations at home.

The last thing on your mind may be the thought of purchasing business holidays cards, writing messages and addresses, licking envelopes, and buying stamps. But you may be missing out on a great opportunity.

Not only are holiday cards a fantastic way to spread some cheer during tough times, but they offer a great way to get through to potential new clients, investors and sponsors, renew relationships with media members and thank valued customers.

After all, most people appreciate a personalized holiday card and will open this type mail.

Now, you may think it will take too much time and cost too much money to send out cards, but with today’s technology, it can be very easy and cost-effective.

Some services will even take care of printing and mailing for you! (Check out http://www.printingforless.com/holidaycards.html, www.kinkos.com  and your local print shop for help.)

And if you are really short on funds, you can always send electronic greetings through Hallmark, Yahoo! and others.

If possible, try to set aside a few hours to create an address list and send out holiday cards in the next few weeks. It may be a lot easier than you think and well worth the effort.

Not only will you help build business relationships, but you’ll spread some holiday cheer…and we could all use some of that right now!

If you need help with your copywriting and PR efforts, please let me know. Thanks!


What’s Your Work Ethic?

December 9, 2008

 

Over the weekend, I was walking along the beach early in the morning and noticed several people standing around with brooms. They were all wearing bright orange vests and seemed like they were fulfilling a community-service obligation.

As I passed the group, I heard the leader say, “Now, take your time. If they see you’re not doing anything, they’ll give you more work to do.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later, I noticed all of the volunteers spread out across the sidewalk…standing there looking at the ocean with brooms in hand. There must have been 25-30 people in the group!

Now, in my opinion, about five people could have swept the entire sidewalk in a matter of hours while the others did something more beneficial elsewhere.

I like to avoid negativity, but I felt this was a total waste of people power and it really got me thinking. With everything going on in the world, isn’t there a way these workers could have completed their community-service hours by directly helping others in need, recycling or taking part in some other volunteer activity that provided value?

In addition, what kind of work ethic does this support?

If you were given this situation, would you just stand there and look at the ocean, or would you try to do a good job with the task you were given?

Obviously, many people would take the lazy route and enjoy the ocean view. But is this the mentality that got them to this point in the first place?

Having a strong work ethic is essential in today’s economic environment. Now is not the time to do “only what is expected.” Instead, it’s important to go above and beyond.

The hard-working people who put in the extra effort now will be the ones who will be able to compete, weather these tough times and experience great success in the future…so with this in mind, are you going to settle with the status quo or make your dreams a reality with hard work and perseverance?

If you have copywriting and PR questions, please let me know. I’m here to help!


A Simple Thank You Goes a Long Way

December 4, 2008

 

Now that we’ve all had some time to get back into work mode after the Thanksgiving holiday, I thought I’d provide a simple reminder…

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to regularly develop relationships with the media (on top of everything else you have to do). But it doesn’t need to be difficult.

In fact, the next time you see a quote or article in the media that includes information about your business, send a quick thank you to the reporter who wrote the story.

Media members are inundated with negative news, bad press releases and quick deadlines on a daily basis so they tend to appreciate a note of thanks and a few, nice comments about their hard work.

With this in mind, it’s also a good idea to regularly thank customers, partners, employees, and other business associates.

It only takes a few minutes. And best of all, your quick “thank you” may result in better relationships with the people who can take your business to the next level…fast. 

Try it and let me know what happens…

And with that note, THANK YOU for reading, and I’ll be writing more soon!


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