0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

Marketing Strategies ● 155
cards, vendor invoices, catalogs, and directories. Note names you see in
magazine and newspaper articles and find those people, too.
Business magazines such as Entrepreneur usually include contact information
and web sites in their articles.
There are many affordable programs that help you enter and keep track
of the information. A database also lets you cross-reference and access
information in various ways. Many people rely on Microsoft Outlook to
keep track of contacts.
More complex customer management programs can organize your daily
appointments and remind you when to make calls. The biggest job is entering
the data into the program. You can ask a staffer to do it or hire a temporary
worker. Be sure you sort out the contacts and discard ones you don’t need.
Also, figure out what information you want to appear in each field.
And remember, your database has to be updated frequently. People move
and change jobs all the time.
Once your database is complete, use it. Check into sending out a
monthly newsletter with Constant Contact or another online service.
HubSpot.com also has an e-mail marketing program that we use. As part
of its national book tour sponsorship, HubSpot also built and designed
my site, so check it out: 201greatideas.com.
GREAT
Package Your Products for Success
Provocative or practical, packaging your products well is
IDEA
critical to your success. Without great packaging, the best
product in the world is destined to sit on the shelf or arrive in a zillion pieces.
“A product properly packaged is half sold,” said Tara Abraham, one of
the nation’s leading commercial packaging design experts. Abraham, who
began her merchandising career at Bath and Body Works, left her job 15
years ago to open a small “pick and pack” operation.
Today, Accel Inc., based in Lewis Center, Ohio, creates turnkey packaging
solutions for big and small companies, including The Limited, Victoria’s
Secret Beauty, and Bath and Body Works. Accel posted annual revenues
in excess of $20 million in 2010. It operates out of a 580,000-square-foot
facility. From July to January, during the pre-holiday and busy holiday gift
season, the staff expands from 260 to 1,100.