Taking email address off website OK after all

When I returned from vacation in April I found myself in a complete funk, completely uninterested in getting back into the usual daily interaction with email and social media. The pull of the funk was so strong that there was no way I could override it. Further contemplation revealed a strong wish to stop typing my life away. After 9-plus years in business I had grown quite tired of talking to people by email. So I decided to do something radical. I removed my email address and my email contact form from my website. Behind this action was a supposition … Continue reading

Joan’s review – Choosing an Online CRM system

In my newsletter article, “5 Important Steps to Build an Effective Follow-Up System,” I talk about the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems I’ve been testing out in order to strengthen the effectiveness of my follow up with leads, prospects, referral partners and clients. I’ve duplicated the Resources section of this newsletter here, with more detail. Continue reading

Values-Guided Priority System

Earlier this week I got it into my head to prioritize my get-done list in a new way. I can’t even tell you what I was thinking, or how the new categories came to mind, but I’ve been putting them to use and they’re having an interesting effect on my productivity, as well as my sense of satisfaction, so I share them here. Very simply, here they are: L = Love It. “Love It” projects and activities are those things that you are quite happy and delighted to do, and furthermore, happen to intersect with the business projects that have … Continue reading

Eco-Friendly Marketing Practices are People Friendly Too

While reading the opening chapters of The Triple Bottom Line by Andrew Savitz, I started thinking about the various service vendors that flood the email landscape with frequent, repeating marketing messages, and about the question of corporate and social responsibility. It occurred to me that bombarding the business and consumer environment with a continuous stream of (unasked for) marketing messages and materials is not environmentally-friendly, nor socially responsible. By the way, I’m not talking about the big corporations here. I’m thinking about the small “service” business provider who fails to ask when you sign up for their newsletter or seminar … Continue reading