Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Business-Planning-for-NonMBAs.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Business-Planning-for-NonMBAs.html Have you taken the time to do some reflecting and planning around your business? Planning is one of the key variables separating financially successful businesses from those who just scrape by. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Improve-Your-Websites-Results.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Improve-Your-Websites-Results.html Your website should be built around the goal of getting the sale. You don't do this with hyperbole, or hard-sell techniques, but by leading your prospect through the emotion and logic of the sales process. First, chart out a path from where your prospect enters your website, through all of the steps required to sell your product/service. Begin with showing the benefits your prospect will gain. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Seeking-Help.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Seeking-Help.html Where does the time go? Billable time. As a consultant, your practice may be doing reasonably well; you’re charging $100-150 an hour. As an independent consultant, you’re probably also doing everything from grinding the coffee to editing the umpteenth draft of your brochure. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/A-Questionnaire-for-Businesses.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/A-Questionnaire-for-Businesses.html Twenty-five questions to help you determine how well you know your own marketing condition. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Too-Dull-Too-Sharp.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Too-Dull-Too-Sharp.html You work hard getting the right cover message and words for your brochure. Now, you want to give it a look, an image. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Site-Lines-Why-are-you-on-the-web.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Site-Lines-Why-are-you-on-the-web.html Today, there are few businesses that can avoid being on the net. However, many businesses still don't treat their site like any other marketing tool. The development of your website should be guided by a goal. A focused site helps a small business be successful on the web. Analyze why you want to be on the web--what’s your goal? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Cave-Paintings-Baseball-and-Connecting.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Cave-Paintings-Baseball-and-Connecting.html There’s no such thing as a captive audience--any of us can tune out at will. It may surprise you, then, to know that keeping people’s attention in this high-tech age takes the same know-how we had in neolithic days. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Selling-Services.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Selling-Services.html Selling a service isn't the same as selling a product. Your prospect is buying an intangible. There are no shiny buttons to show off. You and your company are the visible representations of the service. You need to live up to them in your image. (marketing) And in how you "court" the prospect. (sales) http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Good-News-Travels-Fast.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/Good-News-Travels-Fast.html This article is full of opportunities staring you in the face. If you don't believe me, write and tell me so--and by doing that you'd be proving me right. That would make you a proactive marketer: spotting a marketing opportunity in an everyday activity. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/AT-THE-SPEED-OF-LIGHT.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/1156/AT-THE-SPEED-OF-LIGHT.html How many times has someone you've called said, "Why don't you send me some information on your company"? Ask yourself, before you send anything: How will this be dealt with once it arrives at that person's desk. Aren't they already suffering from information overload? On the one hand, people say they need more information in order to make the decision just to meet with you, let alone to agree to buy or hire. On the other, they have more information about everything than they know what to do with.