Actual for You - Business

On The Road Again...Techniques For Increasing Productivity When You're Traveling
In spite of all the talk about the romance of travel, if you’re frequently on the road for business, you know the story is often quite different! If you’re wandering around Europe with a significant other, missing a connection may only mean one less wonderful sightseeing opportunity in the city before you leave. If it happens on business travel, it often means chaos and lost opportunities. Through careful preparation, the loss can be minimized – and if yo

Friend is more expedient than customizing each letter, but it’s not the right thing to do.

You should bury the Dear Friend letter because it is impersonal and rude. It alienates perfectly nice donors, people who will continue to support your organization with their treasure, time and talents if you will only treat them as partners and not as automated bank machines. Addressing your donors by name makes them feel special and appreciated.

At the Business Depot where I buy my office supplies, there is a store clerk who always remembers my name. She serves hundreds of customers. Yet when I approach the cash, she makes

The 5 Things Great Managers Sense about their People, Every Day
Using all of your senses, to help you test how your people are feeling in your business, is a learned skill. Once you start to use it, your abilities to notice become refined and you have a background sensor working for you, day after day.As a precursor to having the quick route into how your people are feeling each day, it is a big help if you have open and honest relationships with them to start with. This comes from keeping

Dear Friend:

Don’t do it.

Don’t start your fundraising letters with “Dear Friend.”

After all, when was the last time you received a letter from someone dear to you, addressing you as “Dear Friend?” Never, right? The days of the Dear Friend letter are dead. So let’s bury the Dear Friend letter together.

I heard recently of a chairman of the board of a national charity who has given his charity millions of dollars and hundreds of hours of his time, yet he still receives their fundraising appeals addressing him as “Dear Friend.” Ouch.

Your fundraising letters are intended to make friends as well as solicit funds. So don’t send form letters to make friends. Friends write personal letters. Letters addressed to their friends by name. My wife never sends me a letter that begins, “Dear Friend.” Neither do my friends. And neither should you when writing to your donors.

I realize that personalization costs more. I know that you save money if you send everyone the same Dear Friend letter. You don’t have to insert custom fields into your letter. You don’t have to perform a time-consuming mail-merge. You don’t have to match the addresses on your letters with the addresses on your reply cards and mailing envelopes (assuming you are using closed-face envelopes).

You can compare your costs for mailing a personalized letter versus mailing a Dear Friend letter, and you’ll also find that the Dear Friend letter is cheaper. But I’d like to suggest, and so I will, that you are measuring the wrong thing.

Return on investment shouldn’t be your only criteria for measuring the success of your fundraising letters. What about donor loyalty? What about donor attrition? What about the lifetime value of each donor? What about plain old courtesy?

Donors stop giving for any number of reasons, but at the top of the list is feeling unappreciated. Think of that chairman of the board that I mentioned a minute ago. Can’t you just hear him saying to himself, as he receives yet another Dear Friend appeal, “I have given this charity millions of dollars and hundreds of hours of my time, and they treat me as though they don’t even know my name”?

Yes, Dear Friend letters are expedient. But expedience is not your only aim in running a successful fundraising letter program. Robbing banks is also expedient, but it’s not right. Using guilt as a motivator in your letters is also expedient. It raises funds in the short term. But it’s not right. And starting every letter with Dear Friend is more expedient than customizing each letter, but it’s not the right thing to do.

At the Business Depot where I buy my office supplies, there is a store clerk who always remembers my name. She serves hundreds of customers. Yet when I approach the cash, she makes

How to Start a Retail Supermarket
Everyone needs food in order to survive. And while many people have had to turn to restaurants and fast food in order to get food on the run, the retail supermarket industry is still thriving. People like to eat and they need to eat. However, getting into the retail supermarket business can be difficult, so here are some basic tips to get you started.First of all, learn about the customers that you want to provide foods to. Are they looking for l

olicit funds. So don’t send form letters to make friends. Friends write personal letters. Letters addressed to their friends by name. My wife never sends me a letter that begins, “Dear Friend.” Neither do my friends. And neither should you when writing to your donors.

At the Business Depot where I buy my office supplies, there is a store clerk who always remembers my name. She serves hundreds of customers. Yet when I approach the cash, she makes

Profitable Marketing Programs (Part 1)
Deciding whether a particular marketing program is profitable to your business is often more subjective than the accountants would have you believe. You should not only consider the direct revenue and costs associated with a marketing program, but you should also think about the long term impact on your business.The full benefits gained from a marketing program are not directly and immediately measurable. Many benefits happen over time. Advertising;

u are using closed-face envelopes).

At the Business Depot where I buy my office supplies, there is a store clerk who always remembers my name. She serves hundreds of customers. Yet when I approach the cash, she makes

The Cost of Doing Business
The cost of doing business continuously increases as gasoline prices soar. Many service companies (e.g. plumbing, air conditioning and chimney contractors) have realized this as gasoline expenses have reached the ceiling. In an effort to offset this cost many companies are cutting budgets in other key areas like marketing and advertising. Many companies are realizing as they cut budgets for advertising they are seeing a decrease in profits which requires fu

nk of that chairman of the board that I mentioned a minute ago. Can’t you just hear him saying to himself, as he receives yet another Dear Friend appeal, “I have given this charity millions of dollars and hundreds of hours of my time, and they treat me as though they don’t even know my name”?

At the Business Depot where I buy my office supplies, there is a store clerk who always remembers my name. She serves hundreds of customers. Yet when I approach the cash, she makes

Let Your Clients Tell You How to Improve Your Business
Your client’s feedback can be the difference between improving your business and losing it right away; knowing where you succeed and where you fail after a sale is critical to growing your business and achieving perfection in your field. The best way to get that feedback is by sending surveys to your clients asking questions like:How has our product/service worked for you?In what ways do you think we can improve o

Friend is more expedient than customizing each letter, but it’s not the right thing to do.

At the Business Depot where I buy my office supplies, there is a store clerk who always remembers my name. She serves hundreds of customers. Yet when I approach the cash, she makes me feel like I’m a special customer. I feel a little flattered every time. Her name, by the way, is Allyson.

Specialists in customer service have long known that remembering a customer’s name—and using it—is one of the most effective ways (and free ways) to encourage repeat business, customer loyalty and free word-of-mouth advertising. The same is just as true in fundraising, although I have no empirical studies to back that up.

Please don’t start your letters with Dear Friend. Donors take it personally.

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I am often asked by aspiring entrepreneurs for tips that are essential to being successful in launching a new commercial venture. Below I have assembled the big 10, something like the 10 Commandments, only for entrepreneurial success. The areas covered below are not negotiable in the process of taking projects. Trying to short-circuit the list is a death knell for any start-up.

For a training course to be effective you need a good trainer. But that's not the end of the story. As someone attending the course, you also have a key part to play in its success. If you want to get the most out of the experience, here are seven things you should avoid doing.

Search Engines are the key to driving potential customers to your websites. Finding the right words or phrases is crucial to getting hoards of traffic pulling up to your front door with their cash in hand.

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