A Big “Thank You” to John Grime from Anderson Interriors for providing the grand prize to be awarded at the January 2011 meeting for the person who supplied the most qualified leads to Business LeadsAttendees.

Please check out Andrson Interriors at    http://www.andersoninteriors.net

I have never been a fan of anything Christmas before Thanksgiving, but since that’s not terribly practical, I think that not sending Christmas email before Halloween will have to do. These days, many businesses will say that I’m wrong, but I am personally annoyed by Christmas advertising before November 1.

Well, it’s Nov 1 and time to begin. Before you start with any email campaign please read my thought on doing this right.

• Your own list
• Opt-In only
• No Spam
• Post your old newsletters

Let me also say to offer something of value to your readers. It’s all well and good go send sales and discount coupons, but if your think “value” and offer something unexpected like a cool craft pattern or an old family recipe, readers will be more inclined to pay attention to the rest of your email.

For a small business offering more personal service is your biggest advantage. Your email could also become something treasured by your reader (fan) and make it more likely to get passed around.

The email insider has more good tips.

Do Your Emails Reflect The Emotions That Define The Holidays?

I try to attend these BLX networking lunches every month. It’s been a great experience with a group of very professional people that I highly recommend. I have done a good bit of business with and through this group.

I think it works for me because I’m willing to share information, by offering some practical free advice that most everyone can use without having to pay for my services. It does show my expertise, but I believe my main goal at these kind of events should be to let a group of business people know that I am willing to offer my help when I can. More importantly, that I am offering something in return and not there just to take advantage of them by only asking what’s in it for me.

One of the sayings of Business Leads Exchange Networking Group is, “we don’t want to do business with you as much as we want to do business with your contacts”. These business people are not going to recommend me to their valuable contact list unless they trust me first and believe that I can offer something valuable and worthwhile. They don’t want to be embarrassed that they recommended me to their clients and friends if I’m unprofessional or take advantage of them. Would you?

I read an article by business coach Stephanie Ward which talks about treating all of your networks this way. It’s some very good advice. There is no better promotion that a referral from someone else who will sing your praises. It could be anyone, as there are many people who you know other than those that you meet at networking events who could also be your “fans”. Other people will trust these recommendations more than any other kind of promotion or commercial. That’s also why having a good testimonials page on your website is so important.

I invite you to read more information on networking on my blog and if you see a post that strikes your interest, please feel free to comment.

Jim Lillicotch
Lillicotch.com
Website Design, Promotion
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
“Simple can be Good”