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If Sir Henry Cole was alive today he would surely rub he eyes in disbelief at what he started. It was Cole who in 1840 suggested that his friend John Callcott Horsley design a card that could be sent to friends at Christmas time. The card didn’t go on sale until 1843, with a print of just 1,000 cards. However the faster delivery of post by rail and the creation of the ‘Penny Post’ by the British Postal System meant the concept caught on and the custom of sending Christmas cards began.

Although the idea has been around for a while, the benefits to your business of sending personalised Christmas cards are still as relevant today. In fact, if your business doesn’t send Christmas cards it’s missing out on one of the most cost effective and high impact advertising available. Why? Well there are many reasons.

• Guaranteed To Be Viewed
Compared to other types of advertising such as direct mail, press or email, the personal and intimate nature of a Christmas card means that it’s highly likely to opened and viewed. Also unlike emails that are quickly discarded, Christmas cards are kept and displayed throughout the seasonal period, normally within the prime location of your customer’s desk or work area. This generates a high level of recall for your company and the products or services it provides.

• Encourages Customer Loyalty
Whatever your industry or profession, chances are future growth will be depend upon maintaining strong relationships with key customers. Sending a Christmas card is a vital element in this process, because in a caring and seasonal manner it clearly communicates gratitude and thankfulness. This leaves customers in no doubt about how much their trade is appreciated, which helps encourage a positive view towards the company and in turn inspires greater loyalty.

• Creates A Positive Impression With All Stakeholders
Apart from existing customers, Christmas cards can play an important role in relationships with other stakeholders. When sent to business associates, employees and even prospective customers cards provide equally good results.

• Reiterates Company Values
The choice of card design and the greeting that is printed inside can be used to emphasize the core values your company holds. This will help customers understand what differentiates you from the competition.

• Improves Brand Recognition

If customers recognise your logo it will become associated with particular products and services. A well remembered logo will also improve the effectiveness of marketing activity, as customers quickly identify the logo and the company behind it.

The original reason for sending a Christmas card was to keep in touch with friends. Many years later this core principle remains just as pertinent to all businesses and their customers, along with the many other benefits that a Christmas card provides.

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Is your restaurant, bar or hotel clean? I mean really clean. I don’t mean
“do you stick to all the rules and regulations?”. I mean, do you and
your staff really care about cleanliness and hygiene?

Just complying with hygiene regulations will almost certainly result in you
breaking them. By meeting standards that are higher than the minimum you will
probably comply with them. But is this enough? There are two mindsets when it
comes to good hygiene practice in catering businesses. One is the “will I
avoid a fine?” school of thought. The other mindset is: “I
really care that my customers can enjoy the highest standards of hygiene”.

Hygiene Officer

Should you have a designated hygiene officer in your establishment? Some
jurisdictions insist on having a person who is responsible for hygiene
(depending on the size of the business). This is a double-edged sword. The
hygiene officer must have some clout, though, and have a direct route to senior
management. On the other hand if the hygiene officer appointment is just a sop
to regulations or a way of impressing health inspectors it could actually make
things worse. Why? Because hygiene is the responsibility of everyone. All staff
from top to bottom must ensure that they and their customers are working in
clean conditions. The danger of having a hygiene officer is that the rest of the
staff may feel justified in disowning responsibility for this area. The hygiene
officer must not be the cleaner. So, unless the law says you must have a hygiene
officer, think long and hard before you go down this route. If you do, do it
well and it will pay off.

Cleanliness is Next to Succesfulness…

Why would you want to go beyond the basic standard when this costs you
money? Just look at the successful restaurant chains: McDonalds and Pizza Hut
have had their critics, but one things they have in common is that they are very
clean. The cleanliness of these establishments may not be immediately noticeable
to customers, but the subliminal message sinks into the sub-conscious:
“This is a place I feel it is safe to eat at” or “I am happy for
my kids to eat here” - these thoughts become hard-wired at each visit (yes
I know there will be exceptions, but please accept my generalization for now!).
OK, so you don’t want to be a McDonalds. That’s fine - but you do want
customers, right?

Involving Staff

Anyway, there is no great cost involved in keeping things clean. What about
encouraging more staff to eat in your kitchen, restaurant or bar. Do you charge
them? Try reducing or waiving the charge. You need to encourage the staff to eat
the food that you produce. They will not want to eat food in a dirty
establishment. By having staff eat the food that they produce and serve, you
have already introduced mutual quality control and hygiene monitoring.

Of course, a pastoral attitude towards you customers is what you are surely
looking for. In other words, your customers are dear to you, aren’t they? Well,
try to endear them to your staff. Phrases like “would you eat off of that
plate”, or “would you like it if restaurant staff didn’t wash their
hands in the washroom” are very helpful. They personalize the effort rather
than making it into the boss’s issue.

And what of the boss? Does the boss in turn just make it into an issue with
the health inspectors? Does the boss really care about the customers or does he
just want to comply as cheaply as possibly with the rules?

Go For Quality

We sell InsectoCutor fly killers. Our customers are firmly in the
former of those two camps. They really care about their customers. I don’t
make this statement flippantly. They really do care and speak up for
their customers. From the smallest to the largest, when you see a food
establishment with an InsectoCutor fly killer machine, this is a virtual
hallmark of cleanliness.

And why do they prefer InsectoCutor fly killers? They are not the cheapest.

Well, they are not plastic but are made of steel. They do not allow insects to
explode but are tuned very carefully to ensure the insects drop full-bodied into
the catch tray. If you want to comply - just comply - with the hygiene
regulations in your area then go ahead and buy a cheap, short-life low quality
fly killer (you may still not comply!). On the other hand, if you want to keep and
attract more customers and really care for those customers, I would urge you to
buy InsectoCutor fly killers.

Fly Killers are available from
Arkay Hygiene. For small establishments, the F1
or F2
fly Killers are ideal.

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Building and maintaining a loyal customer base is the best way to ensure consistent earnings in the field of sales. Here are some tips on how to do it…

You are responsible

- Whatever happens when dealing with your customer; whether it is a positive thing such as your product exceeding their wildest expectations, or a negative thing such as them being left waiting for days/weeks for your product to be delivered. You must take responsibility for what happens. Your customer will see you as the emissary of your company - indeed to your customer - you are the company. Blaming someone else in the company for a missed delivery or similar error will simply make you look mean-spirited; taking full responsibility and trying to sort it out will show maturity.

Problems are great

- Problems (wrong invoicing, poor service, overdue deliveries etc.) offer great opportunities to build loyalty with your customers. Tackling a problem head-on for a customer will build customer loyalty quicker than any another action you may take. Take positive actions to deal with problems immediately, if you ignore them they will just grow bigger.

Actions speak louder than words

- When you are next in a call and your customer has a problem (which outlined above, is your responsibility), take immediate and positive action. Instead of promising to sort it out later at the office, or make a phone call later in the day - ask if you can use their phone right there and then and ring whoever you need to ring to resolve the situation. Even if you don’t manage to resolve the situation right away, your customer will be very impressed by your positive and immediate response.

Keep your promises

- Never make promises you can’t keep, and ensure that you keep the ones you do make. If you promise to call a customer back within the hour, do exactly that, even if you have nothing positive to relate. This will gain you a reputation for reliability.

Hedge your bets

- Follow the old adage ‘Under promise and over deliver.’ Giving yourself a little more time than necessary to achieve a particular result will stop you being put under too much ‘time’ pressure should things not go quite as planned. But don’t use up all this extra time, do what you need to do immediately and get back to your customer early - again this deposits a ‘goodwill credit’ in the Loyalty Bank.

Following these tips will ensure that you build a loyal customer base that will see you through the ‘ups and downs’ of your selling career.

Jerry Cornelius is the best selling author of ‘The 13 Steps to Sales Success’ - a definative guide for those new to sales or considering sales as a career. For further information go to: http://13stepstosalessuccess.com

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Becoming an affiliate marketer is an interesting and exciting process. There are so many programs out there for you to promote. You should think seriously before you commit to any one program.

Choosing A Program

To become an affiliate marketer, you must choose the right affiliate program to market. This can be done by reviewing as much information as possible about the affiliate program you are interested in joining. You can start also by reviewing what other affiliates have to say about the program before you sign up.

When choosing to become an affiliate marketer, there are certain things you should be aware of. For example, you should know what percentage of the sale of the affiliate product you will receive. This can range from as low as 10% to 75% of the sales price. Generally, the higher the commission, the better for you.

After you have chosen a program you beileve will be profitable to you may elect tohave a website designed to showcase your product in a professional manner. But why, I ask, would you choose to spend the time, effort and money to re-invent the wheel? Many affiliates are now providing a professional sales letter for your use and/or provide a redirect to the sales site. This makes sense for both the seller and provider.

Using An Autoresponder

Once you have selected an affiliate program, you, yes you must promote your program,. It is a good idea to set up an opt-in list and autoresponder from the beginning. There are many, many autoresponders available. Do an online search and comparison to choose the one best for you and the products you promote.

Using your autoresponder you can generate of list of names and email addresses of people who have purchased the product from your web site, or a list of people interested in finding more information about the product. You can use this list to send them information about product updates or to send information about new products you are promoting. This is an easy way to advertise, but you must do so legally. SPAM is illegal.
Again, do the research and learn the legal way to do your e-mail marketing.

Track and Record

This is something most new affiliates fail to do when they first start out. It is the simple concept of keeping track of where your traffic is coming from and what areas that you promoted to are generating the most sales. In this way you can see where most of your business is coming from and turn up the heat in those areas to generate more sales. Keeping track of your traffic also will tell you what areas you have promoted to that is not generating any sales or low sales. You can then either abandon these areas if you have tried all promotion methods, or increase promoting there. Do your research - there are some excellent software resources to automate this process.

Network With Other Affiliates

As an affiliate, especially one who is getting started, it is a great idea to network with another affiliates. This is especially beneficial if the other affiliate is a seasoned veteran of sales. The amount of information that you will learn from them cannot be read within any book. Make us of the online forums, teleconferences, mp3’s and provided by seasoned veterans of making money online.

With these tips in mind, now is the time to move forward and become the affiliate marketing success story.

Dr. J. Elisha Burke
Burke Publications

Copyright 2005 Burke Publications All Rights Reserved

Dr. J. Elisha Burke, an educator and entrepreneur, has been involved in various business enterprises via Burke Publications. He is an educator, writer and motivational speaker on a variety of topics. Many resources to get your business from idea to profit can be found at Burke Publications websites: http://burkepublications.com or http://news.burkepublications.com

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