Vol. 4 , No. 3     January 18, 2005

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Premium Content

Jill Griffin
Are You Building the Right Kind of Loyalty?

Conventional wisdom teaches us that customer acquisition is typically far more costly than customer retention, and, therefore, we must strive to make customers loyal. But not all customers are actually beneficial to the business.

We marketers must learn to identify and retain the most profitable type of loyal customers. We must learn to recognize and produce customers who have the most beneficial type of loyalty.

In other words: Sure, you want more loyal customers. But are you building the right *kind* of loyalty?

Get the full story.

Robbie Baxter
The Pitfalls of Leadership

Robbie has worked at companies with smart, charismatic leaders who have run a good idea right into the ground. A leader without a sound strategy is like a guide without a compass, a ship without a rudder or whatever other clichéd metaphor you like.

There's a reason we have so many expressions for the impact of bad leadership—nearly all of us experience it and know how very painful it can be.

Get the full story.

Mike Schultz
Laws of Branding: Immutable or Refutable?

Many branding maxims tossed about in the marketing world—and accepted as unquestionable gospel and law—simply are not valid.

At least they are not valid for everyone and every business.

Get the full story.

A Note to Readers

Out of the Muddy, Muddy

Greetings, discerning readers!

Whew! Neither rain, snow, sleet nor mudslides could deter the MarketingProfs team from our semiannual meeting in Santa Barbara last week.

For those of you who've never been there... Santa Barbara is a gorgeous coastal town north of Los Angeles, and the venue of choice for our companywide meetings. Because MarketingProfs is essentially a virtual business, it's become critical for management to share some information and face time (as well as some amazing sushi) over two or three days.

The biblical rains in southern California didn't dampen (doh!) our spirits a bit, even if they did make it difficult to get to the tiny town. You might have thought the travel challenges were a team-building exercise devised by Publisher Allen Weiss, but no... the rain was real. (And by the way, I feel lucky to have been merely inconvenienced. Some locals were significantly (and sadly) less fortunate.)

With major chunks of major highways sunk under two or three feet of mud, the whole area north of LA was essentially isolated—a few stomach-churning ferries and seemingly minuscule airplanes offered the only way in. (Can you say "propeller plane"? My knuckles are still white.)

Alas, not all of us made it. But all of us who did had a great time connecting with each other, getting updates on various programs and laying out plans for the future of MarketingProfs. And here's the photo to prove it (there's Val, Achim and Roy in the bottom row; Sharon is standing behind me, then Kim, Shelley and Allen). See? Don't we look cozy?

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy this week's newsletter! As always, your feedback is both welcome and encouraged.

Until next week,

Ann Handley
ann@marketingprofs.com
MarketingProfs.com

Last Issue's Top 5

Recent Know-How Exchange Questions/Answers

Jared McCarthy
Tradeshow Displays: What Makes Them Work

Creating tradeshow displays is one of the toughest challenges that creative firms face. But if done right, they can be showstoppers.

Here's why they are so tough—and what you can do to make them work.

Get the full story.

Meryl K. Evans and Hank Stroll
SWOT Team: Calling All Readers!

This week, add your two cents to the dilemma: What should publishers do to build reader involvement?

Also this week, read your answers to the last issue: What makes long Web copy effective?

Get the full story.

Richard Banfield
You Have a Great Business, but Nobody Cares

Here's a disturbing little secret: almost 70% of the people you do face-to-face business with will never speak to you again.

It's not that they didn't like you or get value from your services. It's simply that they just don't care. They haven't thought about you since you last spoke to them weeks ago.

But why wouldn't they think about you? Didn't that last marketing campaign get great feedback?

As the available research suggests, it's not that they don't like you; rather, they have simply forgotten you.

Get the full story.

Michael W. McLaughlin
How to Write a Killer Proposal

The consulting proposal is a necessary evil. A great proposal can be decisive in winning a project; a poor one can cause you to lose a project, even if everything else in the sales process has gone flawlessly.

Use these guidelines to a write a killer proposal every time.

Get the full story.

Contact

Publisher:Allen Weiss
amw@MarketingProfs.com

Content: Ann Handley
a nn@MarketingProfs.com

Strategy and Development:
Roy Young
roy@MarketingProfs.com

Director of Premium Services
Val Frazee
val@MarketingProfs.com


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go here or contact jim@MarketingProfs.com

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