Affiliate programs are great home based business opportunities for the entrepreneur, and there are several different types of affiliate programs available. The simplest of the home based business income opportunities has you, the affiliate, placing an advertisement like a banner ad, graphic, or text link on your site for the business you are trying to promote. What makes these programs nice home based business income opportunities is that you earn a commission on the sales or clicks that the advertisement generates. Other affiliate programs get a little more complex with multi-tiers and proportions of sales. Still, the money you generate makes affiliate programs effective home based business income opportunities.

Other benefits of these home based business income opportunities include the fact that you do not have to create your own service or product. You get to take advantage of these home based business income opportunities by advertising someone else’s services or products. Also, you do not have to worry about storage, shipping, or collecting payment from customers. With these home based business income opportunities, a high proportion of your affiliate program revenue is profit.

However, there are some negatives to relying on affiliate programs as home based business income opportunities. Since you are just the affiliate program, your home based business income opportunities will not earn you a major portion of the sales revenue, and you make commission. This means that you will not make as much money with these home based business income opportunities as you would selling your own product or service. Sometimes affiliate programs are a great way to start off with home based business income opportunities so you can get some business savvy before branching out on your own.

So, how do you know with affiliate programs will be the best home based business income opportunities for you? Start off by taking a look at the programs that will work best with your website. This means that your home based business income opportunities should complement the content of your website and fit in well. Also, you need to make sure that you find quality home based business income opportunities, because you only want to be a part of an affiliate program that makes you look reputable. There are plenty of reputable affiliate programs available, so look for the best quality home based business income opportunities where the company is stable and you get a signed affiliate agreement.

There are plenty of great affiliate programs available that can offer you effective home based business opportunities. However, you need to make sure you are working with a reputable affiliate programs that are known as quality home based business income opportunities. Also, know that, despite the money you can make in affiliate programs, you best home based business income opportunities are those where you sell and market your own service or product. Still, affiliate programs can be a great way to gain valuable experience.

Download the Free Work at Home Manual (Free $97 Value!) and receive valuable tips, strategies and techniques designed to grow a very successful Home Based Business.

Copyright © Charles Fuchs is an established Six Figure Income earner and one of the top online marketer’s. He specializes in showing people the Best Home Based Business and the Best MLM on the internet.

Have you created a marketing plan for your Website? If not, it is time to think about developing one. An Internet marketing plan helps you make the right day-to-day and long term decisions. Without a marketing plan, it is more likely your Website will be a drain on finances rather than a business builder.

Creating a marketing plan need not be scary or difficult. It does not require a marketing degree or a lot of experience. You do, however, need to put some quality time into writing your plan. There are different ways to write a marketing plan, one of which is to create a marketing plan outline (or single summary page) through a five step process.

5 Steps to Creating a Marketing Plan

Those five steps are:

1. Gather and Analyze Information

2. Verbalize Your Main Challenge(s)

3. Develop Your Website Objective(s)

4. Create Strategies

5. Choose Marketing Programs

As you create your marketing plan, fill in the knowledge you gained while developing the five steps.

Step 1: Gather and analyze information.

You will need information about your company, competitors, customers, and other industry players to reference while creating the plan. This includes all you can find about how the Internet is currently being integrated in your industry with respect to products, promotions, pricing structures, and distribution channels. From this information, you can complete industry and SWOT analyses as well as identify your target customers.

Step 2: Verbalize your main challenge(s).

Write down the main Internet related challenges you want to overcome as a result of your plan. Referring to these main challenges will help keep you focused while creating your marketing plan. You may even want to write your challenges down in question form - “How do we _____________?”. When your marketing plan is completed, it will answer the question “How do I address these challenges?”

Step 3: Develop your Website objective(s).

The objective addresses the “big picture”. Your objective answers the question “How will I overcome my main marketing challenge(s)?” in broad, general terms. If your company’s main site-related challenge is figuring out how to use your Website to help build client business, for example, an objective for your Website marketing plan could be “To enhance online client service as well as build site awareness and interest with clients.”

Step 4: Create strategies for the marketing plan.

Strategies support your objective, defining the general approaches you will take to meet your objective. For example, strategies to support the objective outlined in Step 3 could include 1) improve online communication, information, and education, 2) build awareness of and interest in your company on the Internet, and 3) communicate the Website’s existence and advantages to existing clients.

Step 5: Choose marketing programs (tactics).

Marketing programs are where the action takes place - these are the things you will do to bring your strategies to life. Marketing programs to support strategy 2 in the above example (improve online communication, information, and education) could include 1) sharing experience and observations in your industry through participation in discussion boards, 2) offering an email newsletter, and 3) listing/submitting your site to targeted search engines and directories.

The Write Up

Once you have created a marketing plan summary by working through the five steps, there are numerous ways to create an expanded write up. If you are a company employee, there may be existing format and content you must follow. You can find some write up suggestions in “What to Include in Your Marketing Plan Write Up” at http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/Arts/WritePlan.htm.

After the initial plan is created, you should treat it as a work in progress. Tweak and adjust as needed in response to changing conditions. Many companies update marketing and business plans annually when developing budgets for the coming year.

Whether you are a one-person shop or part of a good-sized company, having a Website marketing plan can help your business prosper on the Web.

About the Author

Bobette Kyle draws upon 12+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, Marketing MBA, and online marketing research in her writing. Bobette is proprietor of the Web Site Marketing Plan Network, http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com, and author of the marketing plan and Web promotion book “How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Website Marketing For Small Budget Business,” ( howmuchforspider.com/TOC.htm ).

© 2002, 2004 Bobette Kyle. All Rights Reserved.

“Lawyer”, a profession of high social status and standing and so it must be focus destination for a large numbers of prospective graduate students. Cambodia, one of the world’s stigmatized countries, is now emerging into the world stage and proving itself of global capacity. Walking on a track toward catering prosperity for Cambodian people, countless resource is needed; spiritually and materialistically.

One of the most important resources toward prosperity for its people, as firmly claimed by both the governing parties: Cambodian People’s Party and Funcinpec and the opposite party, is the “rule of law.” The scope of this article is to navigate around the rule-of-law environment in Cambodia and the author’s personal perspective. However, before stepping toward rule of law, legal studies and profession would be an indispensable factor.

By and large, legal institutes are being born to convert Cambodia into the civilized country; however, we see that progression is much slower than what we have expected and analyzed, with reference to internal and external resources.

Most of the people see legal practitioners and institutes are falling on the downward spiral, due to Cambodian law schools are lacking behind those of the region and the world, unstable justice systems, legal loopholes, unqualified legal practitioners and one of the most important thing: “protracted conflict over the presidency chair of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia (BAKC).” So what are those stated disadvantages? One-by-one brief glimpse into each problem will be depicted in the following.

I. Cambodian Law Schools

The author of this article does not single-mindedly target the state-owned Royal University of Law and Economics alone, but talking about all universities that stipulate Bachelor of Law into their educational curriculums.

Total institution such as the law school shall be the ultimate initiative for students’ professional lives and other like successes. We do not have to follow the West’s style, though their law schools are world widely recognized, but the dean, rector, president and other faculty members shall seek out the way to make their clients truly professional and confident after graduation.

Another problem is in regard to the lecturers. We do and definitely need genuinely professional and experienced lectures to give us the lectures on any specific subject or subject of his or her expertise. In today’s corporate world, law school is no longer an institution to enlighten students’ spirit, but it single-mindedly focus on profit; this would bring great danger to the future of Cambodia.

II. Approaches to Legal Studies

The overall idea learning law is to know that what elements that make law a good law, realizing that whether any law practitioners or politicians are complying or contradicting the law. For all these purposes, neutral and scientific approach to legal study is the must. We do need law school that understand and accept and practice these approaches which are the ultimate initiative toward legal professionalism.

So far, due to political orientation or inference, it makes both the students and lectures hard to realize that what the true world of legal study and practice is.

III. Lawyers’ Consequences

As repercussion from negative points imposed by the law schools, lawyers in Cambodia do not have well prospective and social dignity. It is due to the reason that most of them have not experienced the strict and truly neutral law students’ disciplines, Cambodian people are unaccustomed to having lawyers for conflict resolution and finally the weakness in term of materialism and spirit of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

However, there is always a way out, instigate the true legal spirit today for its betterment tomorrow.

Lay Vicheka is the author in the field of humanity; politics, law, philosophy, history, culture. etc. He the translator for Pyramid Co.,Ltd., and a freelance writer for Search Magazine. He prove extensive experience in the fiel of politics and law, gained from being a legal assistant to a Cambodian member of parliament. He can be directly contacted: 855 11 368 445 or vichekalay@yahoo.com.

Increasing sales seems to be such a simple concept, yet so many organizations have a hard time tackling it. Managers don’t have the time to micromanage and reps frequently lack the time management and motivation to get the organizational objectives accomplished. There are some very basic ways that you can impact the bottom line on an everyday basis.

First, offer to write exclusive articles (that means you
only submit them to one place) for high traffic web
sites in exchange for a link back to your site. This will give you visibility and also builds credibility and positions you as an expert.

Second, create a positive online image. Tell your visitors about fundraisers or events you have sponsored or that you donate a part of your profits to charity. People enjoy knowing that they helped in a greater cause or objective.

Third, improve your customer service on a regular basis. Try out new technologies that make it easier to communicate with your customers over the web. If customers have the ability to order your products/services over the web versus making a phone call, you will probably receive more orders. Make the process simple for them and they won’t mind doing it!

Fourth, ask your customers what they would like to see offered by your business in the future. This type of information can boost your sales. Online customer surveys would be a great example of this, ask customers for feedback on how your product/services could be improved to better fit their needs. Surveys also allow you to get a picture of how well your product/service is being delivered.

Fifth, make sure your web host isn’t losing your sales. If you get an e-mail from someone that told you that they couldn’t access your site, it might be your host. Having a good reliable web site is a MUST and is essential to building sales!

Sixth, allow your visitors experience to be an enjoyable one at your web site. Provide easy navigation, good content, fast loading graphics, search options, etc. Think of what you like to see when you go out to a website, being user friendly is essential.

Seventh, keep changing or adding freebies to your website. If people see the same freebie in your ads they will say to themselves, “been there done that”. In addition, this allows clients to get a taste of new products/services that you provide and may peak their interest to look further into your offerings.

Eighth, add a directory to your web site. When visitors submit their web site, e-mail them confirming their link has been added and remind them to revisit.

Ninth, organize your marketing and advertising into a plan. Create a list of daily, weekly, monthly and all other future promotional plans.
This will allow your marketing efforts to constantly be in use and literally selling for you when you are sleeping.

Tenth, trade links only with web sites that your target audience or yourself would visit. They should offer their visitors valuable content or freebies. Once again, this encourages people to come back and continue to visit and gives visibility to your different offerings.

In summary, by offering your products/services in a variety of different formats, you will be received by numerous different audiences. The key is to try different angles and find out what is successful for your particular business. Just when you may think you’ve looked at every angle, the market may change and require you to try new strategies. By thinking “outside the box” you will continue to establish your presence and increase sales by getting your message out in a variety of mediums.

Tim Hagen owns and operates Sales Progress LLC, a sales consulting and development firm located in Mequon, Wisconsin. He has worked with firms such as the Milwaukee Brewers, Dairyland Seed, and Bombardier Evinrude. He has worked in a variety of industries and increased sales 15-35%. Feel free to contact him directly at salebuilder@aol.com.

Pregnancy is always an exciting time. You are busy thinking about a thousand things - what sex the baby will be, what name to choose, how to decorate the nursery, etc. But, many of your friends probably have one thing at the top of their priority list - your baby shower. Baby showers are a great time to get together with friends and celebrate the upcoming birth and all the excitement that goes with that.

When the appropriate time comes, you will probably be approached by at least one friend about a baby shower. This may be your best friend from high school or the girlfriend you ran around with while still single. You may even be approached by relatives who want to throw a shower for you. Some people have multiple baby showers - one thrown by family members, one thrown by friends and one thrown by coworkers. No matter who throws the shower for you, you will need to think about whom to put on the guest list. Chances are, your aunt, best friend or coworker are not going to know everyone you would like to invite, so she is going to need a little help from you.

First, you will need to decide if you think you are going to have more than one shower. If you hear rumors of a family shower, you probably do not want to invite family members to your “friends” shower. If you have coworkers that are also close friends, you do not want to invite them to your “friends” shower only to find out you are having a work related shower as well. So keep your ears open to try to find out as much as possible to avoid duplicate invitations. You can even ask people you are close to if you feel comfortable enough and explain to them why you are asking. It will not be the worst thing if Aunt Silvia has to tell you to hold off on inviting your best friend to the family shower “just because.”

Be sure to ask the shower host how many people can attend the shower. It may depend on where the shower is being held. Some people have their showers at their church so there is plenty of room and seating, but many people have them in their homes, so there may be a limited amount of space. You also do not want to overload your shower host’s budget. She may be thinking you will invite fifteen people and you do not want to show up with a list of a hundred people. Remember that the shower invitations, decorations, and refreshments are going to cost your host money and you want to be respectful of her generosity in offering to throw you a shower.

Once you have an idea of what type of baby showers you are going to have, then you need to sit down and write out a list. You may want to jot down names on a sheet of paper before you start looking up addresses. You may even want to ask some other people whom you should invite. With all you have going on, chances are you may forget someone, so it will be useful to have another person helping you. You do not want to hurt anyone’s feelings by unintentionally leaving them off the guest list.

After you get your list set, you will need to start gathering addresses. Actually giving your names and addresses to the host may best be done on the computer if you are comfortable using it. Many people already keep names and addresses in online address books, so giving your host your shower list may be as simple as printing the address list and checking the names of those you want to invite. If you do not have your addresses online, you can type them into a spreadsheet to give to your shower host. An online copy of addresses may come in handy depending on whether she is going to have addresses printed on envelopes, print address labels for the envelopes, or hand write the addresses on each envelope. No matter how she is going to do it, having a nice, clear copy of all names and addresses will be beneficial.

Finally, if you forget someone important on your list and feel badly about it, invite them out to a special one-on-one lunch with you. It will not be the same as being at the shower, but can help mend hurt feelings from being left out.

Have fun determining your baby shower list. Call a few of your closest friends, grab your old address books and have a good time reminiscing as you jot down names.

Jennifer Barnett is a successful party planner providing valuable tips and advice on planning a baby shower that is inexpensive, fun for the guests with baby shower games, and choosing the perfect baby shower gift. Her numerous articles offer moneysaving tips and valuable insight. Print her “Baby Shower Checklist” to help you plan and organize the upcoming event!

Well have you? Personally, I’d say “Yes, but…” But what you may ask? Well, firstly the business plan wasn’t written from the back forwards. In other words it wasn’t written as a result of a statement like “We need to get $X thousand/million from the bank/lenders.” Secondly, it wasn’t written because someone (I hope it wasn’t a consultant) said “A small business of our size should have one.” Thirdly, once written it wasn’t put on the shelf and forgotten for the rest of the year. And, finally, no one expected things to happen exactly, and I mean exactly, the way the plan predicted.

A business plan that starts with a look at what’s going to happen in the industry and then at how the competition are positioned, helps highlight opportunities and threats. Combine this with an honest assessment of the small business’s own strengths and weaknesses and you’re on the way to developing a fairly logical strategy. Using that to develop three financial forecasts — a “best case”, a “worst case” and a “most likely case” helps keep people’s feet on the ground. It also helps if the assumptions made in each case are carefully recorded. Compare this approach to starting to write a plan knowing what the final financial numbers have to look like and you can figure out, fairly quickly, which of the two plans is most likely to “work.”

A good reason to write a business plan is to figure out the answer to a question - like “What would we have to do to increase our profits in each of the next 3 years?” People will be more motivated to approach the process in a logical, thoughtful way than if we’re doing it because “we should have one.” Part of the answer is working out what the small business will have to do — for example buy plant and equipment, add people, and change the way things are done. Those things would probably be written down somewhere anyway — with, once again, all of the assumptions made — so why not put them in a plan? If the money we’ll have to spend and the people we’ll have to hire are related to the increases in profits they’ll help to generate, it becomes easier to see them as investments instead of expenses.

Plans that work are dog eared. Why? Because they’re pulled out regularly and reviewed. During the planning sessions the “big” goals — increase sales by $500K — are broken down into smaller actions — introduce a new product, hire new sales people. Action plans — with SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time related) objectives — are developed and written right into the business plan. Someone is designated as the “champion” for each action. She/he is responsible for getting it done. It’s easy to check, for example once a quarter, whether well defined actions like these have been completed. At the same time actual developments in the economy, industry and marketplace are compared to the assumptions and the strategy updated. Financial results are compared with the forecasts and adjusted if necessary. These are “no blame” sessions — if there are performance problems with some individuals they’re dealt with separately — just an opportunity to update some projections with reality.

Why aren’t these guilt filled, finger pointing sessions? Because the people who did the planning know that they can’t predict what the weather will be tomorrow, what the stock market will do next week or how their favorite sports team will finish the season. They measure how well their business plan has worked by how close their estimates came to reality. If any of us could exactly predict the future — well, I wouldn’t be writing this and you wouldn’t be reading it.

I tell myself that one of the advantages of getting older (there have to be some surely) is that you gain a lot of practical experience - both good and bad. A couple of the things I’ve noticed, along the way, are related to business plans. Firstly, the companies that I’ve been involved with which had good business plans always made more profit than those which didn’t. Secondly, those small businesses hadn’t written their plans to meet some predetermined outcome; they’d written them to help answer key questions affecting the future of the company. Finally the owners had a realistic approach to forecasting the future and, most importantly, they made their plan come to life.

© Copyright ProfitPATH, a division of JDS & Associates Inc., 2006

Before becoming CEO of the Canadian subsidiary of a multi-national corporation, Jim gained over 25 years’ business experience in major corporations (including subsidiaries of Pitney Bowes, Xerox and ITT) in Canada and Internationally. His orientation and expertise saw him spend much of his time starting and growing new or existing businesses. Since 1997, he has specialized in helping the owners of small and medium size enterprises, successfully achieve their growth objectives. Three of the companies with whom he has worked have received Business Achievement Awards. In 1995, Jim completed an MBA in the Executive Program at the University of Toronto, finishing on the Dean’s List. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa. Visit Jim’s web site http://profitpath.ca/ for more information.

1. You are not your weight - Get rid of the scale.

2. Gentle Eating - Begin your meal by closing your eyes and breathing slowly, noticing how you are feeling, Sad, Mad or glad? Locate your hunger on a scale of 1-10. One being starved and ten being stuffed. Spend 15 minutes in silence and put your
fork down after each bite. When 15 minutes is completed, take time to stretch and breathe, locate your hunger again and then finish your meal.

3. Take the feelings off the food -Food is Fuel -Talk about your feelings-do not eat over them.

4. No food or body talk - Do not talk about food or anything dealing with anyone’s body during meals.

5. Stay with your food plan-it works for you -Get to know a registered dietician and get a food plan.

6. You don’t have to do anything with feelings just feel them -We have lots of feelings in one day. Remember to breathe and another feeling will come along. Get a certified professional who specializes in eating disorders.

7. It’s a choice - Living life on life’s terms

8. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional

9. Happiness is an inside job

10. You have no control over other people, places or things.

11. Your brain is not your friend-don’t go there alone

12. You have enough-You do enough-You are enough!

13. Learn to set boundaries - If you don’t put yourself and your recovery first who will?

14. Tears- They are important to cleanse your body and to share your true self with others.

15. Your recovery comes first -Why? Relapse is not an option

16. Find support, Journal, Write Daily Goals, Learn to Laugh, Learn to connect with your feelings, Connect with others who understand.

17. Practice makes permanence There is no such thing as true perfection because we ALL make mistakes. That is what makes us human.

18. Listen ,Love and Learn about this cunning, baffling and powerful disease.

19. Recovery is Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual.

20. Trust the Process

Mary Pat lives her life to share her struggle with eating disorders in hopes that someone else might find theirs. She has a MS in Experiential Education and a BA in Religious Studies.

http://www.reflectingrace.com

The difficulties of having to drive to a offline gambler’s den can be sufficient reason to forget about it unless inevitable. At the end of the day, all those long cross country drives, the difficulties, and task list this entails are too much to justify the stress only for the possibility to risk a game at offline gambler’s den, in spite of this, if you happen to be the type who finds the utmost satisfaction in card playing then going virtual is sure to be the thing to do.

Here, you will not need to leave your house to go for online gaming for the simple reason that you’ll do all this from within your domestic environment provided you own a servicable computer plus, of course, a broadband connection to the Internet. Yet, let’s not forget that there are more than a few recommendations that you need to fully understand regarding online gaming, especially if you are inexpert regarding this subject. Got it? Fine, so go easy on that excitation and let your mind read and absorb what comes next. Here’s a framework that was written up to clarify what to remember if you’re singling out a reputable online gaming Web site. The first thing that yours truly as a sharp-witted web punter is certain to suss out is an online gaming web site of the kind that promotes high winning odds. Read on for a lot of supplementary pointers regarding tracing your virtual casino fun web site.

Always get assurance that the virtual casino fun web site holds a license, for instance by studying the government operating permit as manifested on the casino site pages. If you are unable to find any government operating permit on any given virtual casino fun web site, don’t ever think of gambling at that place. In the next step, you’ll want to think through intensively the assorted perks that the virtual casino fun web site presents visitors with.

Cryptologic Reveals Successful Fourth Quarter

Yet another tip would be to try your hand first in small amounts in place of using up so much that it hurts straightaway. Check, first of all, the integrity and status of this virtual casino fun setup before going for any serious injury, especially financial ones! Finally, here is another guideline regarding virtual roulette. It can obviously only be to never neglect that gambling should primarily be concerned with enjoying it and less about money. Casino wagering isn’t a job, but, instead, a leisure pursuit that can make you sunny and life in general sweet.

So just having gone along with these infos, now go and surrender to the enticement of virtual casino fun…

Adding safety and style is exactly what window curtains are all about. Dress up your windows with exquisite lace and extravagant ruffles. Window drapes are a covering that can allow you to match up your home with the other aspects of it. Maybe you are looking to color coat a room? The options are endless with the variety of curtain rods that you will have access to. With curtain sets you can definitely create a delicate pattern of coordinated decor. Just imagine the compliments you will receive on your home.

The need for curtain rods with the ability to hold heavy fabric and accommodate large curtain pockets emerged. This spurred various different inventions. Window curtains are definitely also a nice selling feature when you are in the position of putting your home in the real estate market. If you do not want to spend the big bucks, then by utilizing the affordability of window drapes is worth consideration. Where else can you decorate for less?

Some tips for choosing curtain rods include taking these few things into consideration. Take a look at style, fabric and design. Try to figure out the place of the window you are covering and how much light is let in through it. This will help in choosing the correct fabric or deciding to get lined or unlined window curtains. The measurements of the window and how much of the window frame you want to cover with curtains will help with choosing a curtain design. Finish off any room in your home with these great window curtain ideas. Now you can learn with our help and information regarding on how you will ca utilize the huge variety of choices in material, fabric, color, size, options, and hardware or making over your home.

Vertical wood blinds are perfect for a cross promotion of wooden doors to match the nice windows that you have. Wood blinds with 1″ slats offer a more traditional look to any decor. Whether they are richly stained or painted, wood blinds are the modern alternative to shutters.

Window blind tips- Alan Zunec is a regular author and contributor to helping you discover window blind tips , ratings and reviews.

We all learned in Sales 101 we must follow up with our prospects until they buy. Unfortunately, while we’re busy trying to make all these follow-ups, some very fine prospects who are ready to buy now are flying under our radar.

The trick in sales is to talk to buyers. Rather than responding, “Duh!”, professional sales people find this the hardest discipline to execute. But like most successful strategies, it requires a tactical plan. If you’ve been relying solely on follow-up phone calls to close sales, why not try this plan for 30 days?

1. Create a follow-up activity series. If you use ACT! or another contact manager, assign the series after you send your proposal. If you close the sale, you can always end the series early. Your series could look like this:

0 DayProposal Sent

2 DaysFollow-up Phone Call

4 DaysFollow-up Email

7 DaysFollow-up Voice Mail

10 DaysFollow-up Email

14 DaysFollow-Up Voice Mail

30 DaysFollow-Up Email

2. Write a compelling voice mail script. Limit it to 10-15 seconds. (Time it!) Start with your name, company and phone number (which gives the recipient an opportunity to retrieve your number without having to wait for the entire message to play). Next, say your compelling message; then, a declaration about what you want them to do. Finally repeat your phone number at the end. I often give my email address as an alternative way to “return the call.”

My voice mail sales follow-up call goes something like this: “Hi, ___, this is Lori Feldman with Aviva, 800/264-5478. I just completed a project for another client who was as concerned as you are about ___. Listen to what happened when they bought my services: (Recap story). I have some additional ideas for (Company’s project for which I sent you my proposal. When are you available to discuss it? Here’s my phone number again and my email address, if that’s an easier way for you to contact me: (Phone and email address.)

3. Send a Fax. Once I get 30 days out from a sent proposal, with no feedback from a prospect, I figure it’s time to put him back in the prospect bucket where he’ll receive the regular direct marketing I send to all customers and prospects (ACT! Tips, User Group invitations, newsletters, etc.) However, because he was interested in my servicesenough to ask for a proposaland he hasn’t said “no” yet, I still want to give him his own follow up.

Based on the value of the proposal, I may put in a recall date every 30 days, or start emailing again, but first I’ll try my “last ditch effort,” a fax that says, “It looks like your needs may have changed since we last talked. Please check the appropriate box and fax it back to me at your convenience: 1) We’re still interested, but I’ve had no time to follow up with you. Try me in ___ days/months; 2) Our needs have changed, and we don’t need you! 3) We went with another vendor, sorry! 4) Who are you again?” Humor goes a long way, too.

It’s true that persistence pays off in higher close rates. But your prospect is busy, too, and sometimes you’re just not the high priority you think you are. Many potential customers prefer responding via email, which is faster and less intrusive in their day than a phone conversation can be. Giving a prospect several ways to communicate with youespecially when it cuts down on the time you’re spending with non-buyersis a more effective long-term sales strategy. When you focus selling time on buyers who want to buy today, your sales go up!

Lori Feldman is president of Aviva, a mailing list/database marketing and Internet consulting firm and an ACT! Software Certified Consultant. She is this year’s Direct Marketer of the Year, awarded by the Direct Marketing Assn. of St. Louis. Reach her at http://www.aviva-aviva.com/act.html