Brought to you by Concept Marketing Group, Inc.

Unsubscribe instructions, past issues, and additional information can be found at the bottom of this email or by visiting http://www.marketingsource.com/newsletter/

In this issue:
• Marketing Article: Seminar Marketing: How to Choose a Mailing House That Will Save You Time, Effort & Money
• Marketing Article: Forget the Fockers…Meet Your Customers!

Start the new year out right!

Purchase a new business or consumer list by February 5th and request a free set of mailing labels*

We also offer printing and mailing services. If you're looking to reach your target market using postcards or print material, let us give you a quote on your next project. Take full advantage of discounted automation rate postage and a complete mailing solution that is less expensive and easier than doing it yourself.

Call 800-575-5369, email printing@marketingsource.com, or visit http://www.marketingsource.com/printing for more information.

* Up to 5,000 records - shipping not included

Seminar Marketing: How to Choose a Mailing House That Will Save You Time, Effort & Money
by Mike Kaselnak © 2008

Seminar Marketing is the quickest way to grow your business. It allows you to do a face-to-face, credibility-building meeting with 40, 50, 100 and even 1000 prospective customers at a time.

In fact, in the last 8 years, financial advisors and business owners that were making $50,000 per year saw their incomes soar to over $1 million a year.

But the market has changed drastically.

How the Seminar Marketing Business Has Changed

Five years ago, you could get a 2% response rate for a financial seminar mailing. Today you are lucky to get a quarter of that. Why?

Because the same mailing houses have been sending the same mailer, with the same headlines and the same bullets for years. The people getting these invites are simply throwing them away. That means your profits are going into the dumps!

Now, don't get me wrong.

I highly recommend that you utilize seminars in your marketing mix, regardless of your profession. However, if you want to build a highly profitable 6 or 7 figure income professional practice using seminars, then you must spend some time picking the right mailing house to send out your seminar invitations.

Top 7 Questions You Should Ask Your Seminar Mailing House Before Hiring Them:

1. Are you a seminar marketing company or a postcard printing company?

There is a huge difference between lead generation direct mail and seminar invitations. When you work with a mailing house company that does NOT specialize in seminar invitations you are rolling the dice with your hard earned money.

2. How will you make sure my seminar invitations stand out from my competitions?

This is one of the MOST important questions to ask. You must make sure that your seminar marketing mailing house will help you write successful copy and headlines for your invitation. Make sure NO ONE else is using it in your territory. If they are using the same old copy and headlines they have been using for years RUN away fast. If they cannot help you create something unique to you and your specialty, you are wasting your money.

3. What is Your Guarantee?

Many mailing houses offer response guarantees as a way to get your business. However, most have no intention of ever honoring their guarantee. When the response comes in below the guarantee, (and it invariably does) they will continue to offer you discounts on future mailings instead of giving your money back.

4. What are the niche markets you work in?

In order to succeed in seminar marketing, you need to work within a niche. The more specific your niche is the better. It is extremely helpful to work with a mailing house that specializes in your niche. When they understand and have experience with your niche, you are much more likely to have success using them to fill your seminars.

5. Who Will Be My Seminar Marketing Liaison?

Make sure that you're assigned a professional at the mailing house to walk you through the whole mailing. You need someone to make sure that the mailing is done accurately and on a timely basis. A little mistake on an invitation can send people to the wrong address or at the wrong time, costing you thousands of dollars.

6. What is your turnaround time?

Seminar mailing is very time sensitive. Your mailing needs to hit on a certain date. Most large mailing houses will tell you that they have a 30 day or more turn around time. This will make planning your seminar very difficult. A long turnaround time is an indicator of a large print house vs. a smaller, more service oriented mailing house.

7. What is Your Pricing? What are all the services included in that pricing?

Remember, cheapest is not always best. Best value for your dollar is what you should be shooting for. Do they give you unique and creative invitations? Have they been able to explain to you why they will make you more successful than other mailing companies will? Do you get the feeling that they are truly interested in your success? Or do they just want to mail some junk out for you to make a buck on you?

Seminars can skyrocket your business if you do them right. Hiring good vendors is high on the list of doing things right.

So invest some time in finding the right mailing house. It will save you thousands of dollars in the end.

Once you find a great seminar invitation mailing house, your seminar marketing begins to work just like a big ATM machine. Do a seminar...Grab a bunch of happy new. clients. It's that simple.

-----------------
Marketing expert, author and coach to over one hundred millionaire financial advisors, Mike Kaselnak is considered the foremost expert in marketing for professional services. You can experience just one of his many unique tools, called the 5Q Process, that has helped professionals create a unique marketing message with just a 10 minutes exercise at http://www.teamingwithclients.com . Get this step-by-step guide now!

Get the word out!

Our press release writing and distribution services generate buzz about your business at a much lower cost than other advertising methods. If you have an upcoming product launch, new partnership or contract, public event, or other news-worthy announcements to make, we can spread the word in the media on the local, regional, or national level.

Find out more about our services at http://www.marketingsource.com/pressreleases or call 800-575-5369.

Forget the Fockers…Meet Your Customers!
by Craig Harrison © 2008

How much do you know about your customers? Do you know what makes them happy? Mad? Restless? Let's face it…you should! Businesses often operate in ignorance of what their customers like or dislike, ignore and abhor. To ensure retention, pay attention!

The Basics: What Customers Love
- When you know them, remember them by name and remember their preferences.
- To be treated with respect
- To feel special
- To know you're accountable when problems arise
- The ability to reach a live voice or person when problems arise
- To receive lagniappe — a little something extra, for their money's worth

The Basics: What Customers Hate
- The runaround — and having to repeat one's predicament repeatedly
- Labyrinthine voice mail systems
- Ignorant salespeople
- Apathetic employees
- Being put on hold
- Being left on hold
- Being disconnected after holding
- Poor routing of their phone call to the incorrect person
- Repeatedly hearing how important their patronage is while on hold indefinitely
- Canned e-mail responses that are unresponsive or miss the particulars of the problem
- Sales reps with surly or superior attitudes who are condescending
- Lack of empathy
- Taking customers for granted
- Being nickel and dimed!
- Adhering to the letter of the law as opposed to the spirit of the law

How We Can Win Points With Customers
- Exceed their expectations!
- Anticipate client needs even before they do
- Proactively head off problems before they occur
- Advocate for your customers with management
- Provide full service — offering one-stop shopping for myriad client needs
- Make doing business with you fun and easy
- Don't make charge-backs, returns and problems problematic to address
- Grow with your customers
- Treat them like royalty and employ a touch of class in your interactions

Your Next Steps
- Audit your sales and customer service process; look for ways to streamline both for your customers' convenience.
- Make sure your sales reps know your product lines inside and out.
- Poll your customers to uncover new ways to better serve them.
- Create a marketing plan for keeping in front of your customers: e-zines, ads, invites, demos, sales and courtesy calls, focus groups and other mechanisms.
- Review your returns; look for patterns and trends. Fix systemic flaws in your systems.
- Seek to reward devoted, long-term customers for their loyalty.
- To the extent possible, meet and better acquaint yourself with your customers so they're more than a customer number or account name.

Don't treat customers like dreaded in-laws. Treat them like beloved family! With these words I thee wed.

-----------------
San Francisco Bay Area-based Professional speaker Craig Harrison's Expressions of Excellence!™ provides sales and service solutions through speaking. For information on keynotes, training, coaching, curriculum for licensing and more, call (888) 450-0664, visit http://www.ExpressionsOfExcellence.com or E-mail excellence@craigspeaks.com for inquiries.