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Voice broadcasting (making a huge number of automated phone calls and playing a pre-recorded message) is a remarkably powerful and affordable way to get your message to large numbers of customers or prospects.

Despite its power, before you spend one thin dime on a phone broadcast, you must learn this secret. Because without it, you might just waste your money. So what could this terrible secret be? It’s really simple - Most folks hate getting telemarketing calls…

OK, OK, I know that’s really not a secret. If you’re thinking about using an automatic broadcasting system and you fail to consider this “secret” carefully, it can really hurt your campaign. Here’s why…

The vast majority (90% or more) of people who get a broadcast call simply hang up. The next biggest group (a few percent) of folks press “2″ (to be removed from the call list). The smallest group, around 1-2%, press “1″ (to speak to a live person, or listen to more, or leave a voicemail).

You’re probably thinking”OK, but I’m only paying for the “press 1’s, so what’s the problem?” Here’s the problem.

Just because someone presses “1″, it does’t mean they’re interested in your message. Some of them only want to tell you to not call them again. Those responses are worthless to you. But you still pay for them. So you should carefully consider how to maximize the positively interested, qualified responses.

Now, whether you’re selling merchant accounts to business prospects, or even selling raffle tickets for your charity event, you’ll hear some folks say “remove me from your list and don’t call again” (or worse)… No surprise there right? And I promise, even if you’re soliciting donations for sick children, even if you’re calling your own list of past donors, you will STILL receive some negative calls!

The inescapable fact is this - out of 1000 people, there are probably 2 or 3 who get so irritated when they receive a telemarketing call, they will “press 1″ to complain. To illustrate the effect of response rate on the number of negative calls received, consider two hypothetical broadcast campaigns.

Campaign #1 - selling merchant accounts to businesses - response rate is below average, at 0.6%. Campaign #2 - asking for donations for sick children - using a donor list - response rate is above average, at 1.5%.

Now, assume that 3 out of 1000 (0.3%) of the folks called are the type who will “press 1 for no good reason”… If you work through the numbers, the merchant processing campaign gets 50% negative calls, but even the sick children campaign gets 20%!

The fact is, if you are delivering your calls to live answered phones, and taking live transfers, you simply cannot escape negative calls, no matter what your message is about. And the main way to reduce them is to create a message with a higher response rate.

We’ve described how getting negative calls is a fact of life in this business, and how increasing the response rate will decrease the number of negative calls. Join me in future installments as we discuss how to handle or avoid negative calls, along with other voice broadcasting tips.

David Seldon operates LivePhoneLeads.com providing voice broadcasting services for businesses. Find more informative articles about voice broadcasting at Live Phone Leads.

Do you sell a product or service best suited for use by other businesses? Are you having a hard time building your clientele? Then we have a suggestion for you. Try selling to chain stores. You’d be surprised how easy it can actually be.

The first thing you need to do is pick a suitable chain to sell to. My own experience is in selling to restaurant chains. I’ve sold my service to many national chains over the years but on a local level. You’d be surprised about how uncoordinated they are in spending their money collectively. Many of them are free to order items and services specifically for themselves ever though each store in the chain may need that same item or service.

This brings me to the first part of the problem. Say you identify a chain with ten stores located locally. The first thing you need to do is identify if they are considered corporate stores, that is owned by one parent company or are they franchised stores controlled by one or more seperate owners. One of my larger restaurant clients has over twenty local stores but half of them are franchises owned by another company. So I have to deal with two different companies.

The next thing you need to do is to figure out how to get in. Now assuming you have been selling your product or service to other customers successfully then you should be able to use the same approach you’ve been using. If you are able try to identify the store most in need of what you have to offer.

The real key to selling to certain chains is taking advantage of the fact that they don’t necessarily use a system of centralized buying for their products or services. Some of the restaurant chains that I’ve done business with at one time had half a dozen vendors each with different pricing offering exactly the same service. Your job is to replace them.

So to do that you need to find a crack in the system. You need to find one store manager willing to give you a chance. If you can find that person and satisfy them then you have a chance to grab all the stores in that chain at least locally.

How are you going to do that? Well that’s the easy part. You’re going to leverage that relationship of course. Don’t do it right away of course. Allow some time for your new customer to get to know you. But remember store managers all know each other at least to some degree. They meet with each other probably once a month or more. Your job is to develop that first relationship as thoroughly and quickly as possible. Don’t over do it though, you wouldn’t want them to think you’re being pushy. But keeping long term customers is all about relationships so become an expert at them.

Once you’re confident that your new customer is happy with you and you feel safe then you take the straight forward approach about the other stores. You ask about them. See what your customer knows. Are they using another product or service, are they happy with it. Wouldn’t it be better if their chain only used one vendor? Ask them if they mind if you contact other stores. Can you use them as a reference? Could they mention you to the other managers in their meetings? You’d be surprised how much help existing customers can be with other stores if you have a good relationship and you take the time to ask.

Once you’ve landed that first store things can actually move pretty quickly as long as you’re up to the task. Unless their current vendor is really good at what they do most managers will be willing to give you a shot. Even if you don’t get it at first stay in contact with them. Many chain stores change managers more often than you would think. When that happens you get a new manager that has no reason to be loyal to a certain vendor. And often they don’t even know who the vendor was for a particular product or service.

The simple fact is that landing one chain store can produce for you numerous leads and much easier sales compared to individual store sales that can take much more time and money to sell to. If you need a good bump in your sales efforts chain stores can be a great place to start.

Cash Miller is an experienced entrepreneur and speaker who has spent over a decade as a small business owner. His years of experience in small business cover a variety of topics. If you are looking for more small business help please check out http://www.smallbusinessdelivered.com

Let me tell you the story of two companies who make very similar products, and sell to the same customer base. Both make excellent products that provide a huge benefit to their customers. One of them is incredibly successful at lead generation, and closing the sale, while the other is sailing without a sail. Which do you think is the more respected leader in their industry?

Both the companies I’m talking about make tool vending machines and inventory management software to drive the machines and keep track of inventory. They both sell to manufacturers in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and general machining industries. Both companies’ products offer huge cost savings to their customers through better control of tooling inventory. In many cases each companies’ products save up to 30-40% in annual spend on tooling.

Shouldn’t they both be doing bang up business, especially in a down economy?

I won’t mention the companies’ names because I have worked with one of them. Guess which one?

Well, one of the companies does well enough, and has grown sales about 2-3% per year in the last 3 years. Not bad.

The other company has increased sales an average of 20% each year over the last 3 years, and just had to move to a new 80,000 square foot facility to handle their amazing growth.

In fact, the more successful company sells a tool dispensing machine made by the other company, and does a better job marketing the machine. They sell the machine for 10% more than the company that makes it, and they blow the actual maker of the machine out of the water. How do you explain it?

Simple. The more successful company utilizes an ongoing article marketing strategy that keeps them in front of their current, and more importantly their prospective customers. By using articles published in trade magazines, and industry web sites the successful company has built their credibility and positioned themselves as the hands-down leader in their industry.

The less successful company has relied on distribution, and paid advertising to generate quality sales leads. By relying on distributors they have essentially placed their marketing efforts in the hands of other companies who also have 100+ other product lines to sell to their customers. That strategy insures they will only get about 1/100th of their distributors’ marketing effort. That’s a pretty poor ratio, and doesn’t lead to massive sales growth. Plus, who knows if the distributors have any clue how to effectively market their product?

There is nothing wrong with paid advertising, but it costs the less successful company a fortune, and the results don’t really justify the expense. The very successful company puts the emphasis on article marketing, and uses sporadic paid advertising as an accent to their article marketing strategy.

In addition, the very successful company has a web site that entices their prospective customers even more with an easy to navigate design, and lots of free information. They even offer a free trial of their software via instant download. All you have to do is enter your email address, and you get a free trial for 60 days. The company also gets an opt-in sales lead they can follow up with a few days later, and in email newsletters forever. The articles bring prospects to the web site, and the web site continues the sales process.

The less successful company has a bulky web site design with little information, and no free downloads, in fact no free anything. There is nothing to really entice their prospects to want to learn more, and eventually buy.

So, the moral of the story is to build credibility, and grow sales by leaps and bounds you must have a consistent article marketing campaign.

Ted Hebert is an Article Marketing Specialist helping companies of all sizes grow their business through article marketing. He can be reached at Ted@Atunga.com or visit www.Atunga.com.

“From my experience it seems that the missing thing in many people’s pr plan is positioning. If you perfectly position your product you will maximize your media exposure and media opportunities.”

Friedman adds, “What do I mean by positioning? It is simply the art of presenting your book, product or service to the media in such a way as to convey an immediate interest and understanding of the subject. This will position your topic next to other hot and similar news stories!which will really help people have a quick and simple understanding of your topic.

Positioning has been used for decades by Madison Avenue with much success, yet there is little understanding of it. When it comes to writing a release to attract media attention - radio, television, and print - the rules of press release writing need to be!well!.rewritten.

Marsha Friedman adds, “A creative and well thought out presentation of your product to the media is an absolute must! The competition for attention makes the job of publicity increasingly more difficult. But, positioning is the missing link that will pull you through.” Let’s take a look at positioning tips to create a successful PR campaign:

1. Your press materials must have a good understanding not only of your unique message but also how it is relevant to today’s society.

2. Really look at what you are actually promoting and find the “hot” pieces of information that really put it in front of the pack. Find out what is ground breaking about it.

3. Find out how similar topics are being portrayed in the media. How does yours compare? How is it different? Is there a new slant to it?

4. Distill this information into a two page release jam-packed with information and an exciting headline. Keep in mind that you’ve got to grab and retain the attention of a very busy producer.

5. Be plain and obvious. If you the producer or editor has to really think hard to decipher your message, they will pass over you. Give them an instant concept!

6. Personalize the press release for each of the mediums that you are pitching to. Everyone is looking for something different, so know the formats and pitch accordingly.

7. Don’t forget your biography! This is your time to really establish yourself as an expert on the topic that you are presenting in your release. It’s time to build some credibility.

8. You can be a bit more sales-y with your talk radio press releases, but always remember to give a clear idea of the show and why you are an expert to talk about your topic.

Marsha Friedman adds, “So there you go, some tips to really get your press release in order. But don’t forget that without a relentless phone follow up campaign you may not be able to reap the fruits of your labor. Often times the media never receives your materials or was interested but just too busy to call for more information. Following up by phone puts you ten steps ahead of the hundreds of publicists desperately vying for their attention.”

For 20 years Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on public relations as CEO of EMSI. Go to http://www.publicitythatworks.com to claim your free “Power of Public Relations” video today!

You may have recently published a book. I would venture to guess that you have put a lot of time and passion in order to create a piece of literature to be read by people all over the nation!

Getting the attention of consumers though, can be really tough. In this crowded marketplace (there were nearly 300,000 books published in 2007 alone) you MUST take an active approach to let book buyers know that your book exists, on both a national and a local level!

While national media exposure for you and your book is ideal, there is great power in local media exposure as well.

By focusing on your hometown media outlets you will be able to build a solid base of fame and recognition from which to grow on. Creating as much “buzz” as you can locally will compliment your national campaign to no end and it also gives you invaluable media experience when the national media starts to knock on your door.

Fortunately many local journalists and on-air personalities enjoy interviewing local authors and experts like you. As a local resident, you have a jump on the competition as the local media loves local success stories!

So If you want to create solid book “buzz” in your hometown read on:

*Book Signings: This is your “secret weapon” in your local media assault. So what good are they? Well take a look at these facts: Books will be stocked on their shelves after you leave, unless of course you have a sell-out You’ll receive free advertising and promotion in the book store’s customer mailings.

Highly visible placement of your books in store a week before your signing. Employees of the book store will give you valuable third-party endorsements Book signings are a goldmine for local publicity. I strongly suggest doing as many as you possibly can, including all stores that are located within a 100 mile radius. Heck, even get your family and friends to set up signings in their local book stores.” The name of this game is not only to create the local “buzz”, but it is also “let’s sell some books!”

* Talk Radio Interviews and Television Appearances: Generally speaking, every city has radio and television programs that have a format for guests. Do your research on the web to find the main stations that broadcast in your hometown. Then go to their website where you will find information about the shows they broadcast. Marsha Friedman says, “Look for those with a format for guests and find the contact information for the producer.” Then call and pitch yourself as a guest. Aim to get as many interviews on TV and radio as possible.

* Local Newspapers and Magazines: Marsha Friedman says, “My firm finds that how-to or tips-type articles really interest the print media. So if your book offers a solution to a problem, then go ahead and work on a tips-type article.” Write an article that gives 5-7 helpful, quality solutions (or “Tips”) to a problem that many people face. Next, identify the newspapers and magazines in your local market, go to their website and find the right “beat” your topic falls in - for example - religious, business, health, lifestyle, etc - and send your article to the journalist that covers that “beat.”

No one relevant listed? Gun for the editor-in-chief. Write it so that it would be ready for publication!because if it is there is slight chance that they may print the piece “as-is.” But since you’re a writer, this should not be a problem.

Aim to get as many as humanly possible.

For 20 years Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on public relations as CEO of EMSI. Go to http://www.publicitythatworks.com to claim your free “Power of Public Relations” video today!

How many times have you… heard of article telling you that you can use some of the free methods to drive traffic to your website? But are those methods REALLY free or it comes as a trade off of something in your life.

You finally realize that you need traffic to your site in order to make money. But there are so many methods you can use that are taught in the e-books and video programs you have bought. Which one is the best for you? You need to realize that you are unable to use every single method that is stated in those programs or e-books you bought because it is either too expensive or too time consuming to try them all.

Now is the time for me to explain to you what REALLY is free traffic generation method. The word FREE only imply that you do not have to pay in term of money but you have to pay with your time as all free methods are time consuming in nature. Therefore you must first decide what you want to trade for your traffic, Money or Time? Personally, I recommend the use of 1 free method and 2 so called free methods. So how to choose the best methods that suit you?

1) Set Your Marketing Budget: Once you have your monthly marketing budget set away, you can have a better view of the type of traffic generation method you can use. Depending on your budget, you can look around for advertisement opportunity that suits you.

Examples of Paid Methods are

- PPC
- Co-Reg
- Ezine Ads
- Banner Ads and many more.

2) Set Your Available Time Slot: Next, you must set away certain time of the day to perform your free traffic generation task. As I have stated earlier in the article, free method means you trade time for dollar. Therefore once you can decided how many hours a day you can spare for your traffic generation, you can then pick the methods that suit you.

Examples of Free Methods are
- Traffic Exchange
- Safelist- Article Writing
- Forum and many more.

3) Understand Your Strength: There are definitely some things that you can perform better in. Maybe you like to communicate with people and forum is the method that best suits you. If you are a good writer, you can then choose article writing as your method of traffic generation. It is important for you to understand your own strength so that you can perform better in that particular task.

Lastly, it is important for you to track the conversion of your chosen methods so that you know which one is performing and which are not. Get rid of those that are not performing and try adding other method to see if it is better.

Now put this into practice and you can start to see results in your traffic flow

Remember this: The key to being successful in your internet marketing business lies in your ability to generate traffic to your site. Once you manage to master the skill to traffic generation, you will be able to achieve success in any niche you enter.

Get Your FREE 5 Days Mini Audio Course on “How To Develop Web Traffic To Your Site” by Internet Success Tips Newsletter here: 5 Days Mini Course

Kelvin Lee is the publisher of “Internet Success Tips Newsletter” which provides informative helps for internet marketers of all levels.