Companies wanting to make the most of their PR budgets these days are discovering one of the industry's best kept secrets that is effective, mitigates risk and beats the traditional retainer-based agency in every way.

It's called Pay-For-Performance PR. There are only a handful of agencies that operate on this fee basis amongst the tens of thousands of PR firms throughout the entire U.

When I asked one of my clients which medium was most beneficial for him and why, he said, "I found that you get almost instant results with TV. Viewers believe what you have to say and as a result you get to reach tons of people in a "real" way. And the results are tremendous. From one TV appearance alone I got close to 1,000 subscribers to my book's newsletter.

I was fortunate enough to sit down with Michael and interview him about talk radio. I wanted to learn more about his views and experience to share with my clients and with those of you who are considering this medium as a marketing strategy for your business.

I had an enjoyable time listening and learning from Michael, and I hope you will too.

If you tell someone not to judge a book by its cover, would you believe that they wouldn't? First impressions count for everything and often it takes just a couple of seconds to determine if you like what you see. Exhibition stands have the power to either invite or reject a customer's business within those few seconds. Finding the right balance between practicality and visual appeal is the key to your success.

Fragmentations, Extensions, Subs and Spin-Offs -
Brand Yoga Can Save Your Business

A Company's brand is one of its largest, most important assets, one that takes years to develop, one that must be nurtured, massaged, cultured and maintained.

For broad-based product and service companies, sometimes putting your brand through some yoga-like exercises can lead to tighter targeting, enhanced revenue and improved profitability.

The letterhead that you use for your business will affect the image that others form about your company. It is sometimes the first opportunity that you have to present your company to someone. It is important that the design you create for your letterhead reflects the image you want conveyed. Your letterhead will not only provide the customer with your name and address, it will also create an image about the quality of your products or services.

You've had 1,000 of the finest, most eye-catching business cards printed. Now, what do you do with them? Networking with business cards is one of the most cost effective means of marketing your business--and yourself.

Don't leave them sitting in the box, they do you no good there. Get them into the hands of your prospects! If you think of your business card as a mini-billboard for your company, you'll realize that you need people to see it in order for it to be effective.

Companies seeking to become more customer-centric should define the customer experience as a formal end-to-end process in their organization.

Business leaders that subscribe to the process-centric approach to business improvement understand the importance of having well-defined end-to-end processes. Typical end-to-end processes that are well-defined and optimized in businesses today include:

* Plan to Profits (Budgeting & Finance)

* Order to Cash (Operations/Order Fulfillment)

* Procure to Pay (Procurement)

* Recruit to Retain (Human Resources)

* Idea to Market (New Product Innovation)

* Forecast to Delivery (Manufacturing & Distribution)

* Market to Sale (Sales & Marketing)

For those organizations that have formally adopted a process-centric approach to business, the process is often formally defined, measured, monitored, and continually optimized.

Loyalty cards have invaded and have taken over our lives! It all started innocently enough. It seemed like no big deal when airlines and hotels embraced the 'frequent' traveler rewards programs. We consumers embraced the idea of earning rewards for our travel.

Little did we know that loyalty cards would band together and plot to overtake our lives! The momentum built slowly so that we wouldn't notice.

Bus sides. Shopping bags. Keychains. Radio shows. Cold calls. The list is endless that represents all that can be done to promote a business. Here's another list: frowning; looking disheveled; ill-preparedness; saying "no" to Girl Scouts. These can DEMOTE a business.

Father of Guerrilla Marketing, Jay Conrad Levinson, describes this best: "Marketing is everything you do to promote your business, from the moment you conceive of it, to the point at which customers buy your product or service and begin to patronize your business on a regular basis.

One of the most difficult parts of preparing for a convention is renting and setting up the trade show display for your company. There are dozens of companies offering dozens of different products for rental to display items for the trade show and having the right equipment and advertising can make your trade show experience even more effective. So what should you be looking for when renting a trade show display for your next convention? There are a couple of things that you should keep in mind.