As part of our business we manage events for our clients. We do everything for them from event planning to event recruitment. Given this experience, I've developed 3 simple guidelines for deciding "if" to put on an event.

I am going to suspend, for now, the discussion of whether an event is a good idea or not. I will say this: I personally believe that if done correctly an event is a fantastic vehicle for generating leads and beginning/developing/nurturing new and existing customer relationships.

I was recently asked the question, "Who Wins? Direct Mail or Email?" by a student of mine. This was my answer -- and I want to share it with you: It all depends on your *list.* And, very importantly, how often you "touch your list".

The better the list you have, the better the results you will get. I define a good list as one that contains customers and clients who you have marketed to several times at the very least.

During good economic times it is important to know what your customer is thinking, however in uncertain economic times it is "crucial".

As market conditions change, it is important to understand the following questions you can simply ask your customers. Being sure you are on top of your customer's concerns, by doing research, is a powerful information-gathering tool.

I recently read an online article by Eric Chabrow on CIO Insight titled "Computer Jobs Hit Record High". While there can be negative news about employment readily available, I thought I'd share with you some signs of a sector with strong economic numbers that might bode well for you and your sales.

The article states "unemployment among computer-related jobs hovers near historic lows as the U.

While doing some research for one of our clients on a pay-per-click campaign, I was reminded of how important it was to have an effective landing page. A landing page or squeeze page (as it is also known as because it gathers info and squeezes prospects into a funnel) is the site that you direct people to from a Google text ad, email, or direct mail campaign.

I was getting a hair cut the other day and endured how the barber could only talk about the price of gas and the economy. It seems as if everywhere I go that's all anyone can talk about.

So, it is no wonder that some of us are a little scared, nervous about the future, etc. It's always being reinforced -- always being focused upon. Unfortunately, if you are a VAR entrepreneur, sales person or marketing person you don't have the "luxury" to engage in that stuff, to be negative.

What is this coveted "holy grail"? Some describe it differently but it's the desire of a VAR, solution provider, systems integrator, or any other sales person to be viewed as their clients' trusted advisor. I know that phrase is very over-used but let's focus on the actual meaning. If you don't like the term "trusted advisor" use one that works for you.

During a new project call, today, a client asked for my advice on which was better, telemarketing or email, for finding new prospects.

My basic answer is that the telephone is overall more high-touch and more reliable. However, email, when done correctly can be effective. I didn't say *as* reliable or *as* effective but it can be a wonderful secondary form of air cover.

Whether you are democrat or republican, there is an important lesson to take away from how national political conventions are handled.

The lesson is about "messaging" and "image."

As an observer of these conventions you can see how much the parties try to control their message and image. These conventions are very carefully designed and choreographed.

Again and again, when speaking with my clients, they tell me that if they had more leads or their sales staff, it would solve their challenge or problem. If they only had more leads. Yes, leads are great. But I've learned that that's not the problem they are really sharing with me.

The real problem is that their sales folks are not doing proper follow-up on the leads they are getting.

I like calling direct mail "lumpy" mail. Some of my staff groan when I call it that. They prefer to call it "3D Mail". But, you see, to me, the whole point of direct mailers are that they are, well, lumpy.

So what am I talking about here?

When using direct mail of any sort more than 50% of the battle is just getting the recipient to open it up, right? As a society, we get so much junk mail.