Do you look like a winner?

You can fight it all you want but people do judge a book by its cover. How is your cover doing? Are you putting your best foot forward or do you need a little freshening? This may be a tough question to answer but one you need to answer about yourself.

Here’s a quick way to get some insight into your public persona. Next time you go to the store, a restaurant, the dry cleaner, a bus stop or any public business or service ask this question: “Would you do me a big favor? If you had to guess what I do for a living, what you would guess? And please be honest, I’m just very curious.” Their answers will give you a general idea of how outsiders view your outer shell.

Below are basic questions you can ask yourself to keep your appearance in check:

• Do you dress a step above what people would normally wear in your industry?
• Are your clothes pressed and clean or wrinkled?
• Are your shoes clean?
• Is your hair neat and stylish?
• If you smoke, do your breath and clothes smell like smoke?
• Are your fingernails cut and clean?
• Is your nose and ear hair clipped?
• Eyebrows trimmed?

Small business owners tend to think these ideas are frivolous because “they’re not trying to win a beauty contest” so does it really matter to potential customers? What if it does? Are you losing business because they can’t get past your “look?” Eliminate that as a potential reason for someone not doing business with you, and nip any appearance issues in the bud. We all get an “instant” impression of people, so focus on influencing people positively by putting your best foot (or shoe in this case) forward.

Giving a solid amount of effort towards your appearance ensures people can focus on your great services/products, all the while eliminating the potential of losing business for “other reasons.” Make it happen!

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Do I need Letterhead and Envelopes for my business?

Most businesses don’t really have a need for letterhead and envelopes. People used to think you were a “real business” if you had letterhead and envelopes and now people tend to want to look a business up online and see if they have a web site or any kind of internet presence for validation. For sure you still need to have business cards to be able to pass out to people but if you have a web site, letterhead and envelopes aren’t as necessary any more.

Not to mention so much of today’s business is done by email. If you do need to send someone something by “snail mail” then you can easily type your company name, address and phone number in the upper middle portion of your letter and generate the printed envelope from your printer and then provide your email and your domain name for your web site in the letter for additional validation.

If you still feel like you need to have letterhead made, than have someone create letterhead for you in a word document, then all you need to do is put nice paper in your printer and print it out in color instead of buying a bunch of letterhead and envelopes that you’ll probably never use.

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Do you have your business cards with you?

You know how it goes; you meet someone, have an interesting conversation with them, and begin to believe this person has great potential to work with you or as a referral and so you ask, “Do you have a business card?”

Many people respond saying “I’m really sorry, but I just gave my last one out” and then just like that, a missed opportunity. It’s hard to determine how many opportunities people let slip away by not carrying their business cards, but by losing the ability to follow up you are losing FREE business clear of any marketing costs.

So take a minute to think, are you the person without the business cards? Or, has this ever happened to you? If so, shame on you! Luckily, opportunity is all about chance and you can still benefit from these chance meetings, but you must have your business cards. No matter what you are doing, it’s always a great idea to keep some cards handy. Working out? Tuck a few business cards in with your health club card. Out to dinner? Be nice to your server and drop a card in with your paid bill. On vacation? Put some cards in your towel bag to take down to the pool.

Ensuring you are carrying company business cards will allow your business to profit and will reflect a higher level of personal organization and professional.

For a great online source to get your business cards and easily reorder so you never run out, click here. Be ready to meet people and do business wherever you go! Make it happen!

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Is Text messaging on a cell phone the same as getting an email feature on your PDA?

No, they are not the same. Text messaging is a quick way of communicating with people you know by using your phone keypad and typing (texting) a short message to them versus calling them. Texting works well for people that don't have time to carry on a full-fledged discussion, but there is a limited amount of space in which to write, so choose your words wisely.

Texting is a casual form of communication and should be used primarily with people you already know and have a relationship with. Texting people that you do not have a solid previous relationship with may be viewed as cold or unprofessional. ALWAYS make the extra effort to email contacts in which you are interested in doing business with. Remember, you get only one chance to make a first impression.

So now you want text messaging capabilities, how do you go about getting them? Most cell phones are capable of texting already and it’s only a matter of putting a plan together. Be careful because many providers charge extra for texting, so find a cell phone plan including text messaging before you start texting everyone you know.

For information about cell phones that receive email read our article titled Do I need a phone that has email on it for my business?.

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

How fast should I return phone calls and emails?

As soon as you can. By getting in the habit of returning your phone calls and emails as soon as practical, you will get more things done and less things will fall in the cracks. For sure there are times when you need to do some research, think about things before you do it or commit to it but in general you want to respond sooner rather than later. I know people who like to wait several hours or a day before returning emails.

Keep in mind you are setting an expectation with the people you communicate with that it is okay to wait half a day or a full day before responding to any communication from YOU. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Be careful what message you are sending to people with the way you return calls and emails.

When in doubt, always respond as soon as possible.

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

How often should I check email each day?

This is a great question that we each wrestle with on a daily basis. The answer is: as often as you absolutely need to. That means a different amount for each person. If your business is one that you are getting lots of email inquiries from your web site or online leads, than you should probably check your emails more frequently throughout the day or even consider getting a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) type of phone so you can receive your emails where ever you are at.

If the majority of your inquiries to your business come to you by phone, then you should check your email at least 3 times per day, morning, noon and afternoon. If you do not get many emails than you might consider checking them twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

Another good idea for you is to forward your phone calls from your office phone to your cell phone when you are out and about, especially if your inquiry’s are time sensitive.

Remember, to build your small business you need to be in front of prospects and customers. Prospects to get more new business and customers to get repeat business and to ask for referrals! Stay closest to where the sales come from!

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

# 1 Tip for 2008 Goal Setting

Think about what you want, not what you don’t want. This is an area that haunts most people in their life and they don’t even know it. Ask someone you know “What is most important to you about…” and fill in the blank. Put family, friends, business associates, vacations or job and see what the people say. Do they tell you what they want or what they don’t want?

If they tell you what they want, chances are they are a person who gets what they want or gets closer to what they want than most people do. If they are a person who tells you what they don’t want, even though you asked them what is important to them, chances are they are getting what they focus on…..which is what they don’t want.

Hopefully this is not too confusing for you. If it is, read it over again and you’ll get the hang of it. Set goals, focus on what you want and don’t let negative thoughts of what you don’t want, slip in.

You are what you think about, make it happen in 2008!

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Why “Doing It Now” is a good thing.

Why do people procrastinate? Typically there are two main causes that result in procrastination; either the task at hand is OVERWHELMING or the task at hand is UNPLEASANT. Procrastination sucks the energy out of you and causes unnecessary stress. When a person procrastinates they are overloading their mind with too many tasks to manage causing anxiety and nervous tension, all which is avoidable. People spend too much time following up on their follow up instead of using a “Do It Now” frame of mind.

It is much easier to complete the follow up now, instead of putting it off. Try doing this with the things that make sense to do it with. As an example, if you tell someone you’ll call them back in two days; call them back in two days. Really, could you have dealt with the issue present day rather than calling them back in two days? By telling yourself you are going to do less procrastinating and less follow up, you will complete more tasks NOW!

Procrastination can lead to undesirable results. For instance, if you’re not in the habit of making regular backups of your computer files, the first time your hard drive crashes you’ll discover how detrimental procrastination can be. So how can you tell if you are a procrastinator? There are a number of ways, but here are some just a few tell tale signs:

• You allow piles of paper to grow in your home or office
• More often than not you don’t respond to e-mails and letters in a reasonable amount of time
• You have a tendency to delay important projects for more easily accomplished tasks.

Have you identified yourself in this list? No problem, there is still hope for you! To beat procrastinating you must change your mind set and deal with the task immediately, meeting it head on. If the task is quite large, break the task up into various stages, setting goals, and rewarding you for completing the tasks on time. Most importantly ask yourself, “What will be the price of procrastinating and am I willing to pay it?” Eventually you will have to do the task anyways, so you might as well get it over and done with.

By using a “Doing it NOW” frame of mind, you will create more time for yourself and add a new level of efficiency to everything you do.

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC