"Helping Your Business Fly"
Issue 13

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. FLIGHT LINES: Devote yourself and stick to it!
2. WING TIPS: "10 Tips for E-mail Etiquette"
3. FEATURE ARTICLE: "The Greatest Marketing Secret of All Time"
4. ALTER EAGLE: "Marketing's Greatest Enemy"
5. EAGLE'S TALON: Address Grabber - Business
6. EYE OF THE EAGLE: "A farmer had seventeen sheep"...
7. CONTACT THE FLYER: Send questions, comments and articles

1) ======= Flight Lines =======
[Observations on business and life]

Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.
-- Albert Einstein (1875-1955)

Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.
-- Josh Billings (1818-85)

2) ======= Wing Tips =======
[A variety of business helps and tips]

10 Tips for E-mail Etiquette
By Tim North

E-mail is frequently written quickly and often poorly. The tips that follow should help you to write e-mail that will be well received every time.

1. Pay attention to punctuation, spelling, grammar and capitals.

how ofen do yoo receeve e-mail ritten like this!!!!!

Many e-mail messages contain poor spelling and grammar, incorrect use of capital letters and/or poor punctuation. Such messages looks amateurish and inevitably produce a poor impression of the sender.

2. Read the previous tip again.

Seriously. I can't overstate just how important it is to write well. The standard of contemporary writing is quite poor -- both on the Internet and in general use. It's easy to find errors in most written sources. Stand out from the crowd. Write well.

3. Your subject line should be descriptive.

Many people get dozens (or even hundreds) of e-mail messages per day, and with so much of it being spam (i.e. unsolicited sales messages), your message may be deleted unread if the subject line makes it look unimportant or spamish.

Another reason to make your subject clear is to help the recipient find it later. Many people archive months -- or even years -- worth of e-mail. A clear subject line will make your message easier to find.

4. Use short paragraphs and leave lines between them.

On-screen text is harder to read than printed text due to its lower resolution. You can make things easier for your readers by using short, clearly separated paragraphs.

You'll notice that all of the paragraphs in this article are fairly short (typically, four or five lines) and are separated by blank lines for clarity. You might also care to indent the text on the first line of each paragraph.

5. Tidy up all those ">" characters.

When replying to a message (or forwarding it), most e-mail programs put a ">" character in front of each line of the original text, like so:

> This is the text of the original
> message that you are replying to

Your reply goes here.

This happens each time the message is replied to (or forwarded). The result is that some messages end up with many ">" characters at the start of each line. This causes the line length to increase, and the text can wrap awkwardly and become difficult to read. For example:

> > > > This is the text of the
original
> > > > message that you are
replying to.
> > > >

If you receive a message like this, don't just forward it on. Do everyone a favour and spend a few minutes tidying it up.

6. Don't send unsolicited attachments.

That three megabyte movie file may be the funniest thing you've seen for a long time, but don't automatically send it to everyone to know. Ask them first if they want to receive it. Many folks still receive their e-mail via modem, and at three or four kilobytes per second, your three megabyte file is going to lock up their Internet connection for quarter of an hour or so. Be polite and ask first.

7. Ensure that your PC is virus free.

Unless you take suitable precautions (like regularly downloading the latest definition file for your antivirus software), you run the risk of your machine becoming virus infected. Far worse, you run the risk of unknowingly sending virus-infected e-mail messages to everyone in your address book. This is not a way to win friends.

8. Don't type in ALL CAPITALS

There are two reasons for this. First, text in all capitals is harder to read. Second, typing in all capitals is considered a faux pas by most Internet users, and doing so may see your message ignored.

9. Thou shalt not spam!

It doesn't matter how good a deal you've got. It doesn't matter that you're just going to do it once. It doesn't matter that everyone else is doing it. That doesn't make it right for _you_ to do it. Don't send spam.

10. Wait a while before sending your message.

Proofreading your own work is a risky business. I'm a writer and proofreader by profession, but mistakes still manage to slip through in my own writing. The best defence I know is to put my writing aside for a while then look at it afresh. It's amazing what will often just leap out at you.

So if you have the time, wait an hour -- or even just ten minutes -- before you press the "send" button. This will let you read your message again and, hopefully, spot any typos or other weaknesses before it goes out.

Armed with these ten tips, your e-mail should be well received every time. Good luck!

You'll find over 200 tips like this in Tim North's new e-book BETTER WRITING SKILLS. It's just $19.95 and comes with a 90-day, money-back guarantee. Download a FREE CHAPTER now.
http://www.betterwritingskills.com

3) ======= Feature Article =======

The Greatest Marketing Secret of All Time
By Michel Fortin

If there is something about which I am pretty adamant, it's the concept of attracting clients that are pre-qualified and willing to do business. And this involves many different things, but most of it comes down to three core practices: 1) Focus, 2) targeting, and 3) multiplication (such as focusing on a niche, market targeting, and multiplying one's marketing efforts).

However, this fundamental magnetism is not only based on pure marketing practices or strategies. It also involves something at a much deeper level that is far more effective than any other marketing tool or process. This "thing" to which I am referring is, I believe, the most important marketing secret that I can ever teach you -- and it's far from being a secret at all.

It is considered as one to a certain degree simply because it is often neglected or ignored by many businesspeople. What is this secret that's so elusive? Before I divulge it to you, I must first admit that it upsets me terribly to see when people tend to scoff their most valuable marketing assets. No, I'm not referring to salespeople or promotional activities. I'm not referring to prospects or clients either. I'm referring to dreams and passions.

"Marketing is not a battle of products, but of perceptions", marketing expert Jack Trout once wrote. If people perceive that doing business with you has an implicit added value, especially when compared to your competitors that are fiercely fighting for your market's attention, you will often end up with their confidence (and their repeat and referral business) as a result

Of course, there are numerous ways that value can be added to your business -- e.g. by specializing, by branding your products and services, by presenting benefits rather than features, by delivering personalized services, by presenting a professional image, by offering something for free and so on. But the most effective way to communicate this added value is through the genuine, sincere, and passionate zest you have for what you do.

People have a tendency to gravitate toward other people who love what they do -- their enthusiasm, charisma, and authentic desire to serve others are instantly communicated through their actions and particularly their marketing efforts. Sadly, however, the marketplace is filled with so many people who jump into business for one sole purpose: Money.

They work for a pension instead of a passion. They are so profit-minded that they fail to enjoy the process. The great anthropologist, Joseph Campbell, said it best when he said that old cliché: "Follow your bliss" a few decades ago. Actually, that saying is older than you think. Chinese sage Confucius, in 500 B.C., said: "Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life." Author Marsha Sinetar wrote a book, entitled: "Do what you love and the money will follow." Peter McWilliams, author of "Life 101," claimed: "Do what you love and the necessary resources will follow."

Now, it's my turn. I say...

"Do what you love and the business will follow."

Well folks, there you have it. That's the greatest marketing secret of all time. It's to do what you love or to love what you do. And if you don't love what you do, then find it. Make *that* your bliss. As Jim Rohn once said, "If you don't like where you are, then change it! You're not a tree."

Doing what one loves is a fundamental marketing process. For example, when you deal with two people competing for your business, and if one of them has the "fire burning in their belly" (a genuine passion for what that person does), then how much more willing will you be to do business with that person than the other? How much more believable and credible will that person be compared to the other? And most important, how much more value will that person bring to the table than the other? The answer is pretty obvious

Enough said.

People who love what they do generate far more word-of-mouth advertising. In subtle ways, they communicate that they are experts, that they are interested more in your needs than your money, and that they will go out of their way to please you. And they certainly develop far more enriching and superior customer relationships -- let alone referral-sources.

Entrepreneurialism has increased in fervor these days, and that's good. But as a result, the hypercompetitive nature of the marketplace will in turn increase the demand for more uniqueness, more competitive value, and greater customer service. However, if you love what you do, your passion will intrinsically communicate all of those things combined.

Just as people choose to work in jobs they hate, many will choose a business or an endeavor that gives them absolutely no sense of purpose. They attempt to earn a living and do so with retirement in mind (or the thought of financial independence), anxiously awaiting those golden years when they will finally start to enjoy their lives. (The funny part is that the future is guaranteed to no one. So, the key is to enjoy it now -- later may never come.)

Needless to say, if you do what you love (or focus on a business you enjoy instead of the money you want to earn from it), you will not only make money as a natural byproduct but also enjoy much happiness, satisfaction, joy, inner peace, and of all things, security.

How many millionaires out there have reached phenomenal levels of success but failed in other areas? According to Bob Proctor in his book "Born to be Rich," the list is endless. To make it short, he mentions numerous wealthy and famous Wall Street magnates in the past century alone that have ended up going insane, getting divorced (multiple times), going broke, suffering from heart attacks, committing murder, or even killing themselves

Ultimately, if you do what you love or love what you do, you will naturally attract more business by the sheer fact that your passion is also communicating to others that you are offering the best solution to their problems. Why? You are offering them the best...YOU.

About the Author

Michel Fortin, of http://SuccessDoctor.com/, is an internationally acclaimed and highly sought-after consultant whose advice has helped countless clients earn millions in record time. He is also a marketing professor and the author of four books. His latest, "Power Positioning Dot Com," reveals how to keep your product or service indelibly carved into your prospects' uppermost consciousness at all times
-- see http://successdoctor.com/pp/.

4) ======= Alter Eagle =======
[Products and services that we recommend]

"Marketing's Greatest Enemy"
by Jay Conrad Levinson

You work like crazy trying to attract attention and business, operating from a marketing calendar, committing to your strategy and doing everything right, resulting in an influx of customers -- but you lose them. They never come back. You did your marketing so well and marketed so wisely that you're almost in a state of shock at how your customers ignore you.

You treated them well while you were making your business transactions. You gave them a fair price, knew that the quality you put into your offering matched the quality they got out of it. You assured them that service is your middle name. You smiled and used their name when you said good-bye, thanking them for the sale. And then, after all that caring attention on your part, they completely ignored you, never set foot in your business again.

Do you want to know why they ignored you, why it was so easy for them to put you out of their minds?

It's because you ignored them. It's because you made the sale and then made the grave but all-too-common error of thinking that your marketing job was over. That was a terrible error. But at least you've got a lot of company making the same terrible error. Nearly 70 percent of business lost in America is lost due to apathy after the sale. Apathy is the deadliest enemy of marketing. A "love 'em and leave 'em" attitude is usually fatal to profitability.

The opposite of apathy is follow-up. Guerrillas have a "love 'em and love 'em" attitude, marketing to prospects like crazy till the sale is made, then continuing to market like crazy to them after the sale. Apathy never sets in. Customers never feel ignored. Guerrillas do all in their power to intensify the relationship with caring follow-up and loving attention. They know that once they have established a relationship, their product or service is no longer thought of as a commodity. Businesses that offer commodities often lose customers due to competitors offering lower prices. Businesses that form warm relationships transcend being thought of as a commodity and maintain their customer relationships with service and constant contact.

No wonder they don't lose business so readily. People want relationships, want the businesses they patronize to stay in contact, want to feel cared for and not ignored. All guerrillas know that their customer relationships are their most precious assets. They know that if customers purchased from them one time and had an enjoyable purchase experience, they are very likely to buy from them again. And again and again. And to provide many referrals over time.

To nourish these kind of lasting relationships, guerrillas send thank-you notes after the sale -- within 48 hours. They contact customers within a month of the sale to make certain they are satisfied and have no questions. They get in touch with customers once again three months after the sale, this time suggesting new items that may tie-in with the original purchase. And three months after that, they make another contact. This kind of guerrilla follow-up not only prevents dreaded apathy from setting in, but also increases business anywhere from 20% to 300%. That's because customers, in their hearts, silently hope for recognition, acknowledgment, information, advance opportunities to purchase, and new calls to action.

Instead of the kind of apathy that loses customers forever, constant attention and follow-up results in healthy back-end sales. This means repeat sales, ancillary sales and referral sales. And this means big profits to you -- because it costs six times more to sell something to a new prospect than to sell that same thing to an existing customer.

These days, all the true marketing experts ask you to calculate the lifetime value of a customer. If you don't understand the damaging effects of apathy after the sale, that lifetime value is pretty small, probably a few hundred dollars, if that. If you do all in your power to prevent apathy from ever setting it, the lifetime value of each customer may be measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even more. You'll profit from the initial sale, from the repeat sales, from the referral sales and from the long, mutually beneficial relationship. It happens only when you defeat the most deadly enemy of marketing. And now you know how to do that.

Jay Conrad Levinson is responsible for some of the most effective marketing campaigns in history, and his 29 books have been published in 39 languages. We highly recommend that you attend his upcoming Guerrilla Marketing Boot Camp that Seth Godin called "the most important business event of the new millennium." Be sure to use this gift certificate code: G19350

http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R19350_gmbc

5) ======= Eagle's Talon =======
[Tools to help you "get a grip" on things]

Address Grabber - Business

Capture contacts without retyping - Intelligently extracts the name, address, city, state, zip email address, phone, fax and enters it into your address book. Eliminates retyping addresses, cutting and pasting field by field, and data entry mistakes. Also Support for additional contact fields such as Mobile Phone, Pager, Alt Phone, Alt Ext, and secondary Email ID field in ACT.

Capture contacts from anywhere - Capture names & addresses practically from anywhere-- email signatures, web pages, documents -- into Palm® Pilot, Outlook, ACT! GoldMine® and many more.

Integrate contact managers with accounting & shipping applications - Transfer addresses between ACT!, GoldMine®, Outlook, QuickBooks, Peachtree, M.Y.O.B, FedEx and UPS. Export feature of AddressGrabber allows you to transfer addresses in ASCII format and then to any database. Also transfer addresses to Business or/and Home address section of your contact manager.

Print labels from any application - Transfer and print contacts from any application into your DYMO LabelWriter or Smart Label Printer.

I use this program on a daily basis and would be lost without it. If you work with a large list of contacts, I highly recommend this excellent application.

eGrabber Web Site: http://www.egrabber.com/index.html

Address Grabber and Demo:
http://www.egrabber.com/addressgrabberbusiness/index.html

6) ======= Eye of the Eagle =======
[Ideas to help you think creatively]

A farmer had seventeen sheep. All but nine died.
How many did he have left?

How could this be?

(Answer in the next issue of the Flyer)

***
Answer to Last Month's Puzzler...

[A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of
the same day of the same year. But they were not twins.

How could this be?]

She had triplets!

Do you have questions that you would like to have
answered in a future issue? Would you like to offer
a business or technology tip for our readers?
Click Here To Email Your Tips

Subscription Information:

To Subscribe by email, Click Here

To Un-subscribe, by email, Click Here

=======***=======
Copyright © 2000-2003 Eagle Computers. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole, or
in part, without the express written consent of the
publisher.

Registered with the Library of Congress. ISSN: 1535-8429
=======***=======