While I do not disagree that this can be a good approach, the truth is that to be really effective it needs to be consistent, uninterupted, and never-ending; it requires deep pockets.  The problem is that this is cold-market advertising.

Used with your warm-market, TOMA advertising is very cost effective and has a much higher return on investment.  The way it works is to send 2 or more greeting cards to your customer or client base annually.  Your cards should celebrate life, like a birthday, anniversary, and/or a holiday card, or it should provide information relative to your business or profession.  While you may also send promotional cards, it is not a good idea to incorporate an office promotion in a birthday card.

Take a look at the system we use in our office.

We all know Mary Kay as the cosmetics mogul.  She grow a huge sale force in a network marketing business model.   Perhaps the reason for her success can arguably be attributed to the gratitude and appreciation she shows to the people all around her.  In fact, it has been said that she instructs her sales associates to write three notes of appreciation every day before going to bed.

Similarly, Joe Girard has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World’s Greatest Salesman.  He reportedly sold on average 5 cars a day.  His claim to fame?  Joe sent out hundreds of notes of appreciation every month to the people on his list.

Mary Kay and Joe Girard both developed  and grew large customer bases on the principle of showing appreciation.   People love to be acknowledged and appreciated.

Be Grateful for what you have,

You’ll end up having more.

Don’t believe me . . .  try it for yourself.

My challenge is for you to send 2-3 greeting cards everyday.

Do it for three months and see how it affects your life.

At first you might be hard-pressed to come up with even one a day, let alone 2 or 3, but soon you will learn not to suppress your feelings and your thought process.  The best way to do this is to simply act on your promptings.  Carry a small pad and a pen to jot down those names as they pop into your brain.

Who do you know that . . .

is a new customer, a returning client, a referring client, had a baby, bought a new house or a new car, got a new job or a promotion, sent you a gift, gave you a call, invited you to play golf, went to dinner or lunch with, shared an important idea, exhibits exceptional trust in you, keeps their account up to date, gave you good service in a restaurant, the manager of the restaurant you frequent often, fixed your car, fixed your pipes . . .

Of course you shouldn’t forget the birthdays, the anniversaries, and the all important “just because”.

With the card and gift program I use it is easy, efficient, and economical to show appreciation daily.  In fact, I typically send out between 150 and 200 greeting cards every single month, which is not too difficult since I have nearly 2000 people in my Contact Manager.  This could be Challenge III, increasing the number of people in your contact manager.

To your success and thanks for visiting . . .

There are a myriad of acts of kindness that we can do during the day.  We just have to keep our eyes open and have that give-to-give outlook on life.

When was the last time you drove by someone who was broken down on the side of the road?  Stopping to help is often a much needed random act of kindness.

While in fast food drive through you will make the day of the person behind you if you pay for their lunch order.  You could do the same at a toll booth.

Perhaps you know a couple who both work very hard, but never seem to get ahead.  How appreciative would they be to receive an anonymous gift card to their favorite restaurant?

Of course our own finances may determine the degree to which we are able to give a random act of kindness.

The way I like to express a random acts of kindness is by sending a greeting card.  The written word can have a very powerful impact on the recipient.  Additionally, since we don’t often receive a greeting card, it is a memorable occurrence.

With SendOutCards I have a very unique system that allows me to send handwritten greeting cards with my pictures, and I can even send a gift along; there are hundreds to choose from.  Now this is a random act of kindness.  In fact, send me your snail mail address, and I will send you a random act of kindness.

Thank you for your time.

Be grateful for the people in your life . . . you’ll end up having more.

I learned the value and power of thank you notes early in life.  When I was a young child; my parents occasionally went out with friends for dinner.  Invariably, when my parents returned from an evening out, I saw my mother sit down at her little desk in the hallway as soon as she got home and began to write.  One night I asked her what she was doing.  Her answer came straight out of Emily Post: “We had such a wonderful time with our dear friends this evening that I wanted to jot them a note to thank them for their friendship and the wonderful dinner.”  My mother’s simple act of gratitude, expressed to people who already knew that she and my father appreciated and enjoyed their friendship, helped to keep my parents’ friendships strong for their entire lifetimes.

Because I understood that building relationships is what selling is all about, I began early in my career to send thank you notes to people.  I set a goal to send ten thank you notes every day.  That goal meant that I had to meet and get the names of at least ten people every day.  I sent thank you notes to people I met briefly, people I showed properties to , people I talked to on the telephone, and people I actually helped to own new homes.  I became a thank you note fool.  And guess what happened?  By the end of my third year in sales, my business was 98% referrals!  The people I had expressed gratitude to were happy to send me clients as a reward for making them feel appreciated and important.

“As you know I built my real estate business to a 98% referral business by using thank-you notes.  Your greeting cards are fabulous and I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to build their business and enjoy a greater degree of success.” -  Tom Hopkins

For more information about Tom Hopkins go to www.tomhopkins.com

For more information about the card system he uses fill in your contact information on the upper right.

In these tough economic times, competition is rough.  You can see it everywhere with all the special deals being offered by retailers.  Even when you think you have provided outstanding service at a fair fee, customer loyalty is almost getting to be a thing of the past.  Doesn’t it make sense, now more than ever, to do all you can to hold onto as much of your customer base as possible?  So, as business owners and sales managers, how do we do this? 

Show Appreciation and Give Thanks

The best way to fix our leaky bucket is by showing appreciation, and to do it regularly.  Let’s explore the various ways we can do this.

1. The obvious, say thank you with a big smile and a handshake.
2. A call on the phone after the sale to confirm satisfaction.
3. Send a thank you e-mail.
4. Send a handwritten thank you note or greeting card.
5. We can even send a small gift or token of appreciation.

All of these steps are important and as obvious as item 1 is, how many times do we not even get this after a fairly sizable purchase?  Don’t over look the obvious.

Conversely, don’t underestimate the power of going the extra mile by sending a handwritten note or greeting card.  It is unexpected, very much appreciated, and does not go unnoticed.  E-mails are quickly deleted and forgotten.  A handwritten note is very nice, but greeting cards are typically displayed on a desk or shelf for others to see, making this a win-win option.

A leaky bucket can be devistating to any business, not just for the loss of business, but also because it costs more to find new customers than it does to keep the ones we have. 

Fill in the form in the upper right and I will show you a system that will never let you forget a client or customer again.  The system will also allow you to send cards and gifts to your friends, loved ones and customers, economically and efficiently.  In fact, you can send a regular greeting card for as little as $1.06, including postage.

Try the system on me.

Thanks for your time,

For the moment, don’t think of yourself as a business person providing a goods or service; rather, think as the customer.  The scenario . . . Two or three years ago you needed to purchase a washing machine.  At the time you did your due diligence; you shopped around, found a good price, and made your purchase.  It was a smooth, uneventful transaction.

Now you need a refrigerator and after three years you’ve forgotten all about the details of your washing machine purchase.  In fact, after your purchase you never heard a word from the appliance store again.  You may have never thought about it before, but do you feel that the appliance store appreciated your business?  They probably did, but did they show it?  Unless you are a creator of habit, how likely are you to go back to this store for your new purchase, compared to . . .

Now apply this same scenario to any other business where you’ve made purchases, big or small, and instead of never hearing anything from the store, you received an immediate note of appreciation, as well as one or two additional unexpected handwritten notes throughout the year, along with a birthday card.  How likely are you to return to this store for your next purchase? 

Appreciation is the law of attraction put into action!

Click Here to learn more about how relationship marketing can change your business and personal life.

And one more thing,

Thanks for your time,

Isn’t it ironic that individually we crave to be appreciated and yet as a society we are slow to show appreciation.

So here’s my Challenge . . .

For the next 30 days start showing appreciation every day.  Every day?  Every day.  How?

• Tell someone they did a good job, even if you think you could have done it better.
• Smile at someone and say thank you.
• Give someone a big hug and tell them you love them.
• Call someone on the phone to tell them you appreciate them.

And, if you really want to lift someone up and change your life at the same time, do at least one of these each day.

• Send someone an unexpected heartfelt hand written note.
• Send someone a small inexpensive gift.

You might say that this is a tall order; how can I possibly come up with one person a day to send an unexpected heartfelt message?  To this I simply recommend that you Act on Your Promptings to connect with people in your life, past and present.  Be creative and  think of all the people who has touched your life.  Just in case you need a little help here are a few suggestions:

Your mother, your father, your spouse, your daughter or son, your sister or brother, an aunt, an uncle, a cousin, an in-law, a co-worker, a fellow student, a high school teacher, college professor, a previous boss/manager, your pastor, someone else from church, your doctor, your dentist and/or dental hygienist, the person who sold you your car/house/major appliance, your postal carrier, your gardener/landscaper, your friends . . .  I think you get the picture.

Click here to learn additional ways to act on your promptings.

Follow this course of action for the next 30 days and at the end of the 30 days let me know how it has affected your life.

One more thing . . .

Thanks for your time!

It’s one thing to “network” with other business people, but it is something else to stay in touch.  As much as the expression “the fortune is in the follow up” is well known, it is amazing how few actually stay in touch and follow up with their contacts.

Whether we are talking about potential customers or someone who has already done business with us, an excellent way to stay in touch is to set up an annual two or three greeting card campaign that:

1. provides a tip or valuable piece of information relative to your profession on each card.
2. provides generic reminders or tips; such as changing fire detector batteries, change clock time, etc.
3. send greeting cards with pictures of you, them, their home, their business.

A two greeting card campaign could cost as little as $2.12, including postage.

Would you spend $2.12 a year to stay in touch with potential and existing customers/clients to get their future business? 

Would it be alright if I give you the opportunity to test drive our system?

Click Here for more information about Relationship Marketing.

Click Here to hear more about increasing your referrals.

Thanks again for your time,

Unfortunately, I am not referring to those pesky little creatures that crawl around on your counter top.  What I am referring to is another type of ANTs . . .

Automatic Negative Thoughts

Let’s face it, in the world we live in today it is often hard NOT to have an occasional negative thought.  Every Time we turn around our economy takes a hit in the arm; Wall Street is “tanking”, unemployment rates continue to be depressing, and we have oil gushing into the Gulf at an alarming rate.  As time goes on, what kind of impact do you think this is going to have on our economy?

Now that I’ve recapped all the bad news for us all, like a piece of scrap paper, let’s crumple up those thoughts and just throw them in the garbage.  Really now, other than praying, what can you or I do about any of this stuff anyway? 

First things first; if we want to improve our lot in life we need to adopt a positive attitude.  Why?  Because it has been written about and demonstrated from books like Think and Grow Rich, Psycho-Cybernetics, and countless other books, tapes, and programs that teach us things like . . .

What the mind of man can believe he can achieve.

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.

If you can dream it you can become it.

Kody Bateman, the founder and CEO of SendOutCards has a saying, “The stories in your mind become the stories of your life”.  What stories are you telling yourself?  Are you thinking that it would be impossible to succeed in this economy?  Well guess what?  There ARE people whose economy is doing quite well!  AND, if others can have a good economy then why not you and me too!  That’s the story I chose to tell MYself!  Why not you too?  The alternative is to complain, suck your thumb, and cry “woe is me”. 

Try Supplanting Positive Constructive Thoughts instead!

• I am successful
• I am happy
• I am excellent at what I do.
• I attract abundance into my life.
• I am enjoying life!

O.K., so now what?  Now that you have positive thoughts, now you have to have an action plan to create your ideal life. 

As much as you might enjoy your vocation, here are some questions for you:

• Do you REALLY enjoy doing what you are doing?
• Are you secure knowing your job will be there tomorrow?
• Are you working harder and/or getting paid less?
• Do you have enough free time for your family?
• Do you get enough vacation time?

Now wait a minute, do I sense an ANT moment?  Don’t start automatically thinking negative thoughts on me now.  Once again, the truth is that we can feel sorry for ourselves or we can take proactive positive steps to overcome.

If finances and free time are a concern then you can do what thousands of others have done, find a home-based business that will allow you to develop a residual income.  In fact, there are an infinite number of products and companies to chose from.  You can promote utility services, telephone services, nutritional products, weight-loss products, on-line shopping services, educational products, or gifts and cards; to name but a few. 

However, it is always a good idea to investigate what will work best for you.  This will help you feel less like a salesperson and more like you were just telling a friend about a good movie you saw.  Here are some recommendations:

• Chose a unique product or company
• Chose a product/company you can be passionate about
• Timing is critical.  Is there a saturation already?
• What is the background of the owners?
• What is the mission for the company?
• What is the upline support?
• Are similar less expensive products available in stores?
• How many similar products are out there?  What’s the competition? 

Whether you want to grow your new business slow or fact, once you have selected the company and product is it important to not let anyone dissuade you from your mission.  This is absolutely critical to your success!  No matter the company you select there will be negativity out there.  With blinders on, just pay no attention.  If there are people who are succeeding in your company, then you can too.  Remember . . .

If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right!

Oh, and one more thing . . .

Thank you for your time,