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"In war, there are no unwounded soldiers."

Jose Narosky







 




 
Featured Gifts Articles

Christmas Gifts and Celebrations That Won't Break the Bank
If not for the fact that Christmas is a time of laughter and merriment, the yuletide season can be awfully frustrating especially for people who have a budget to think of. With lots of expenses for the Christmas celebration already lined up at your door ...

Finding The Best Baby Shower Decorations
Finding just the right decorations is often one of the most challenging parts of planning any baby shower. The right decorations can set the mood and the theme of the celebration, and it is important that the decorations chosen be a good reflection of ...

How To Host A Bachelorette Party
There could be no more fun way to say "goodbye" to your old single but soon-to-be-married girlfriend than hosting her bachelorette party. A bachelorette party can be as subdued, or as wild as you choose. Most importantly, the party should reflect the ...




14 Ways To Boost Customer Response In A Tough Economy
 


Things are rough today for online businesses. The economy is struggling to get back on track. Spam is clogging up the inboxes of everyone, making email marketing less effective. And anti-spam software seems delighted to target legitimate email as junk.


Today, you must step up your tactics to keep your customers buying and away from the competition next door on the cyberspace highway.


Study your competitor's marketing and advertising. Sign up to their email list. Can you offer more than they can? Does your competitor have a weakness that you can exploit? Use it as your main selling point.


Previous customers are 5 to 10 times more responsive to your marketing than people who have never done business with you. It's definitely worthwhile to put in some extra time to keep customers happy.


Here's a few ideas that can help.




  1. Become a "solution-provider" instead of a merchant. Send out a short, personalized email to customers who haven't bought anything for awhile and ask how they're enjoying the last product they bought. Offer to answer any questions or help out if they're having a problem. The more you become a friend rather than just another business, the more likely they'll buy from you again.


  2. Cross-sell. Make sure customers know about your other products. Give a discount for your best customers to purchase your other items.


  3. Send an email to customers only and tell them about your "Customer Appreciation Sale." Create a coupon or special order code that gives a product discount, gift or rebate.


  4. Use offline marketing methods to supplement your online sales tactics. Create simple postcards on your computer. Postcards are cheaper to mail than first class letters. (For more info on how to use postcards for marketing, get my article on the


    subject. Send a blank email to offline_postcards@sendfree.com)


  5. Include a product list flyer when you mail any products to customers.


  6. Occasionally send out a short, non-sales email. Maybe you came across an excellent website, free resource or tool that you wanted them to know about.


  7. Offer an course by email and subtly highlight some of your products as solutions to your customers' problems.


  8. Create a customer only membership site or bulletin board to post questions and answers.


  9. Send a follow up message after a purchase to reassure your customer they've made the right decision and to overcome any "buyers remorse."


  10. Create an affiliate program. Offer customers a higher percentage of the profits than non-customers who sign up. (For more info on starting an affiliate program, visit ttp://www.affiliateshop.com.)


  11. Ask one of your customers for a product testimonial and send it to customers who haven't bought that particular product.


  12. Create a special report or e-book available for free but only to customers.


  13. Develop a customer survey and offer a prize or discount to those who complete it.


  14. Offer reprint rights to a product you sell, perhaps an e-book or special report. ( For info on reprint rights, visit http://shrinkmylink.com/hdj)








David Coyne is president of DC Infobiz, an information publishing company. Get FREE e-books you can sell to customers. Visit his website at http://www.dc-infobiz.com or send a blank email to dcinfobiz@getresponse.com

info@dc-infobiz.com








Gifts News


Things Are Looking Up: Graduation Gifts for 2012's Surefire Superstars
Huffington Post
Here are some gift ideas to keep these lucky grads on the path to success and salaried superstardom: Upgrading your grad's college décor to complement their newly framed degree is a great way to get them to ditch whatever random objects they call wall ...


Trend Report: Gifts for brides, grads and dads
Washington Post
Your best friend is getting married, your brother is graduating from high school, and, on June 17, you're expected at a family cookout with a gift for Dad. Here, less-than-$100 gift suggestions that won't gouge your budget.

and more »

Creve Coeur veteran receives respect, gifts from Patriot Guard
Peoria Journal Star
Among the gifts given to Piercy was a flag that was flown at the funerals of central Illinois' two most recent casualties of war - Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Bastean and Army Sgt. Dean Shaffer, both of Pekin. "As I sat at work today, and I thought about ...


Gizmo | High-tech gifts for grads
The Courier-Journal
There's a lot of tech out there to sort through when you're thinking about graduation gifts. Why not relax and let the experts handle it for you? Here are our favorite picks for the loved ones in your life. The good: The entry-level Amazon Kindle 2011 ...

and more »

Daily Bhaskar

IPL 5: Blunders or fixing? Captain Sehwag gifts final to Dhoni
Daily Bhaskar
Chennai: Delhi Daredevils dug their own grave on Saturday in the match against Chennai Super Kings. A series of bad decisions by the captain of the Delhi Daredevil team left the team in shambles. The biggest mistake any captain can make is by changing ...

and more »