THIS ISSUE INCLUDES: •  What's New? •  Going, Going … Gone! •  Resource Referral •  Lessons Learned •  Tips & Tricks •  Community Leaders •  Member Spotlight •  Community Stats •  Your Account Summary •  Success Story •  Special Thanks •  Last Laugh

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WHAT'S NEW?

Dear Askers & Answerers,

Happy Birthday! This week our forum is one year old. Last January 13 MP threw open the doors to KHE for the first time.

I remember Allen and I were a little anxious about participation. It was a bit like having a party and wondering if anyone would show up. But you certainly did! Here we are now with more than 4,000 active participants and more than 5,000 discussion threads (counting open and closed). And nowadays you need at least 8,810 points to be on our Top 25 list. Amazing!

We've added quite a few features since the initial launch - starting with this newsletter. The first issue came out on February 5, 2004. The next big development was the Urgent Questions feature. Then, together, we built the Resource Library - which houses more than 200 resources recommended by our members. And most recently, we launched the Hire an Expert board.

In addition, we created a virtual advisory group of about 30 active KHErs who participate in discussions about how to improve the forum. This dedicated team helps us to brainstorm and prioritize enhancements - and was instrumental in all of the developments listed above. Thanks, Insiders, for your help in our first year!

But most of all, when I look back, I think: "How can it be that it's been just one year since I got to know all of you?" The Web is a powerful tool for connecting people, and I'm so glad MP found a way to leverage it to bring this community together. I'm looking forward to sharing an even better Year Two with everyone here!

Happy exchanging,

Val Frazee
Moderator, Know-How Exchange
MarketingProfs.com

GOING, GOING, GONE!

Here are KHE's 10 oldest questions. They're likely to close soon. Have an idea to offer? Better do it now!

1. How to sell Concept?
2. RX launch to OTC Marketing the Retailers
3. Need a tagline/name for a set of IT services
4. I need sales/marketing function benchmarks?
5. Future of Sales Management.
6. Interactive Data Bases
7. Do Your Bit!!
8. How can I advertise my service to videographers?
9. How to begin to launch global marketing?
10. 4P study of colgate toothpaste

RESOURCE REFERRAL: CONTEST WINNERS

I have the results of the Resource Library contest. First, I want to thank everyone who contributed! Many of our new resources came from folks who published one listing. This week, I'll be giving each of you who did this by December 31st 100 Question Points as a thank-you.

Then there was a big group who contributed two to 14 listings:

jillc, Google, Deremiah, *CPE, SRyan ;], K, tjh, AndrewS, Pepper Blue, SteveB, Peter (henna gaijin), WaynePo, cetty, Colleen Sharen, Forecast, Ricky, D4Demand, ozdesign, Suze, AJ

These members have won 100 Question Points per listing (1000 Points max). They also are eligible to receive one FREE set of seminar materials for a 2004 MarketingProfs event (regularly sold for US$99). I'll be sending all of you instructions for how to select your seminar this week.

Finally, there are two members who went WAY beyond the call of duty. So rather than choosing between them, we'll be awarding them both the Grand Prize of 1000 Expert Points. They also have won 1000 Question Points and a set of seminar materials.

• thinkmor published an incredible 26 resources!


• And Michele contributed a whopping 39!

All of us at KHE thank everyone listed above for your generous contibution to our knowledge base.

Not all the new listings appear in our system yet, but when they do, we'll have 223 resources to date. That's an awfully good start, for 2005. Even though the contest is over, I hope we'll continue to grow it in the months ahead.

LESSONS LEARNED: LEAD GENERATION

cstinson1970 asked a question many of us spend time thinking about: How can I generate more sales leads? What are the alternatives to cold calls? Here are some excerpts from the conversation. Be sure to click over to read the full thread in you're interested in learning more.

• Deremiah: If you have one sale in a certain community, you can always use that as leverage to talk to other businesses around that client. If you approach it respectfully, people will listen and some will even want to know why others around them are participating with you and this leads to selling something or, if nothing else, getting more referals. Do you have one sale? Have you at least sold one thing to somebody? If you have, you can take this one sale and leverage it into other possibilties. Read Jay Abraham's book, "HOW TO GET EVERYTHING YOU CAN OUT OF ALL YOU'VE GOT: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition". I'm not getting paid to sell this book but if you buy it, read it and apply it you'll get paid. I know this stuff works.
• Peter: Be perceived as an 'expert' in your field. This can be done by being a speaker on a panel, writing bylined articles for magazines and newsletters, etc. All of these get you in front of people who could be potential customers and often your name sticks around for long after the article is published/speaking event happens, as these types of things are often stored on Web sites. Of course, you do have to have some knowledge of what you are talking/writing about, but you don't need to be the most knowledgeable.
• Tamara: Okay, if you have a customer database I would send out a targeted direct mail campaign to your customers first. It is easier to get repeat business. I would send out a minimum of 3-4 pieces to the same people, with two different mailers. (It takes 4-9x for someone to remember your info.) Next I would mail to potential customers you would like to obtain. ... I would purchase a database at: www.zapdata.com. I would ask for their email on these direct mailers and all the info you can get. Offer something FREE to get that info. ... Direct mail can help you gain exposure and see more people than an average salesperson could. Also, postcards seem to have a "pass along" value. ... This does not happen with letters. Plus with letters you have to get someone to OPEN it. A little tricky there.
• mgoodman: The way to get people to come to you is to offer them something they need so badly that they have no alternative but to call you. If you can't make that offer, and deliver on it when they call, then you need to go back to square one and ask yourself what you would say on a cold call that will keep them from hanging up on you. Said another way, you need to define the benefit you deliver and position yourself (and your company) as the perfect solution to the clients' most pressing and important problem. If you can't do that, you probably don't have a viable business. This will also help you sharpen your focus on the target audience most likely to accept your offer.
• jacquesw: Telephone prospecting is the most effective way to quickly find good prospects without spending money and without having expert marketing skills. ... If you have a good prospecting list and you call someone on the list once, than the second time you call that person, it will be a Warm Call. However, whether and how you will be received on the second call will depend on what transpired on the first call. ... The objective of each call should be to determine whether the person you call is a High Probability Prospect for your products and services, now. That average time for that kind of call to be completed is no more than one minute. The longer you talk to a prospect, the lower the probability that you will ever do business with them. My Article Eliminate the Fear of Cold Calling and Rejection goes into the subject in more detail.
• thinkmor: I would suggest, since you say you're new to your industry (maybe your company?) why not really understand WHY your company has been successful by talking to its past and current clients, what products they bought, do most clients buy for the same reason or to solve the same problem, how much, when they bought, how they bought, over what sort of time period etc. By talking to the different clients, categorizing and segmenting their needs, you'll be able take a snapshot to see if the 80/20 - 70/30 Rule applies. If it does great, then you will be able to idenitfy profitable segments to go for. ... From your observations and notes you can start building Testimonials and Case Studies - you can add to PR & Articles on-off line. You should also send these in your Information Packs, tailor the information into your targeted Sales Letters and incorporate them into your 'cold or warm calling' pitch for each of your segments. Your Testimonials and Case Studies will help build your credibility.

The Discussion: How Do I Make Prospects Come To Me?

TIPS & TRICKS: HOW TO SEARCH MP

I read a KHE post by SRyan the other day that offered this suggestion, and I want to share it with all of you. If you have a question you can guess has probably been asked before, there are 3 likely sources of more information on the MarketingProfs site. The best way to make sure you see everything we have to offer on the subject is to do 3 searches:

1. Search Questions: Use this page to look for previous questions on the topic in Know-How Exchange. (You will see the link to this page in KHE when you're logged in.)
2. Search Articles: Use the Search box in the horizontal blue bar throughout the site to find MP articles on the subject.
3. Search Resources: Use this page to search the Resource Library for resources recommended by our members. (You will see the link to this page in KHE when you're logged in.)

Someday we will resolve this search challenge, but it's tied to a chain of events that stretch out over the next few months. So, in the meantime, think of searching MP as a 3-step process.

Have a question? Ask the experts.

Post a brief synopsis below, and invite other members to offer their feedback.

My Question Title

COMMUNITY LEADERS

As of this week, these are our superstars! The Most Resourceful are those who have contributed the most entries to the Resource Library. The Most Expert are those with the highest number of Expert Points (earned by answering questions).

NOTE: These are our top members as of midday January 16, 2005

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: MEET FRANCES

Frances Gordon (Frances) has been with us since April of last year. She has posted 114 answers to date, including one wishing us all holiday greetings in Zulu. Read on to learn more about this week's featured member.

Where are you based?
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

What do you do in real-life?
I'm a communications strategist and business writer. My main interest lies in simplifying complex communications: In industries like financial services, I believe that clear, honest communication should underpin all marketing initiatives.

Tell us about your company.
I founded Touchpoint Communications in 2003, when I came back to South Africa after a number of years working in the UK and Europe. Touchpoint is a one-woman consultancy, and I meet client needs by partnering with other specialist consultancies.

What kinds of KHE questions do you enjoy most?
The website critiques because the answers are so multi-disciplinary and nearly always offer very specific advice. The copywriting questions because they show me new perspectives on my trade. And sometimes the student questions - because I have never studied marketing and it's interesting to see what these courses involve.

Describe a specific KHE discussion you learned something from.
Recently there were two interesting questions about sales letters: Debt Negotiation Service and Promotion Of New Technology To Edible Oil Refiners. I learned a lot from the responses given by the KHE experts, and I think the askers did too.

What professional organizations do you belong to?
I belong to Nexus - a networking group focused on building leadership skills in South Africa.

How long have you been in marketing?
About 10 years. After spending my first work years in education, I needed a change. By chance, I found a job in marketing - and was surprised to discover that my experience in education and my degree in linguistics could help me with this kind of work.

What is your next career objective?
I want to build Touchpoint Communications, not by employing people but by setting up partnerships with other consultancies and agencies. I want to bring South Africa out of the Dark Ages when it comes to the field of simplified communications.

Do you have a favorite tool that helps you do your job?
Roget's Thesaurus and the Economist Style Guide. Also I love onelook.com, which has a reverse dictionary - hours of fun for word anoraks.

Describe one of your non-marketing interests.
I attend French conversation classes, and also study Zulu (a South African language).

What is the value KHE provides to you personally?
When you work alone as a consultant, it's a real luxury to be able to debate issues and reality-check concepts in a friendly environment with "no strings attached". Also, KHE helps me to keep up with marketing trends in the US and UK, and reflect on how these apply my own environment.

Do you have a favorite quote you want to share?
"Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself."
~ Truman Capote

COMMUNITY STATS

Active Unique Participants (to date): 4,090
Closed Questions (to date): 4,598
Currently Open Questions: 215
Total Responses (to date): 34,537
Subscribers to this newsletter: 13,360

YOUR ACCOUNT SUMMARY

These numbers come directly from YOUR profile. Question Points tells you how many points you have available for asking questions in the forum. Expert Points indicates your standing in the community based on answers you have posted. Visit this FAQ, if you want to know more.

Question Points: %%PointsBalance%%
Expert Points: %%PointsCum%%

Click here to buy more Question Points

SUCCESS STORY

This week's Success Story comes to us from 14sierra. He requested tagline assistance on amusement park rides and has the following to share:

"I have been surfing MarketingProfs.com for some time, but had not spent much time in the KHE until I was faced with a real marketing dilemma. Our company felt that it was time to rebrand, and part of that meant a new tagline that better communicated what our strengths were (a tight budget precluded hiring a marketing company).

To make a long story short, the powers-that-be have not yet decided on a tagline, but that's not for lack of contributions from KHE advisors! I was impressed by the amount of thought that some contributors put into their responses, and also by their credentials!

The real sucess story here is that as a newly graduated marketing student, I have discovered a valuable resource! I have learned a tremendous amount just by reading other people's questions and their responses. Thanks to all those that responded to my question. I learned from every single response. Rest assured that as soon as we have made a decision about a new tagline, I will share it with all of you!"

SPECIAL THANKS

Thank you, 14sierra and Frances, for providing content for this newsletter. And thanks to all the following community members who have emailed or posted suggestions, technical reports or questions in the last week. Your energy drives this community's development. We couldn't do it without you!

roshla, Greg, pkemper, csmitc, Jim Deveau/Catalyst, jcmedinave, mgoodman, macker99, Michele, bobhogg, michaldover, mhayfield, michelletrex, mccarthy, dawn, rnorth3, VanSmick, Vevolution, JBtron, jose04, Peter (henna gaijin), W.M.M.A., Google, tjh, julius, bwacclivus, joanne.worthington, hatee, Jett, sarah, Forecast, chiron34, Greg, michael, Ambidextrous, pradeepsg, rabernar, Huner, cfreichels, rbillingham, OlivierT, rockyboy2, ps, ASVP/ChrisB, thinkmor™ and SRyan ;].

Finally, thanks to my MP colleagues for making my job easy: Aaron, Sharon, Megan, Ann, Roy and Allen.

LAST LAUGH

This space is dedicated to something amusing I find posted in KHE. mac504 likes to ask thought-provoking hypothetical questions. This is one of those. It's a thread you may want to mull a bit. Or just skim it for a smile.

Open Question: How Would You Sell Ice To Eskimos?

Forum Feedback: The Know-How Exchange is still young. So we're constantly refining how things work. We have a gigantic list of action items, and your feedback helps us prioritize it. So please feel free to reply to this email with any suggestions. Thanks, in advance, for your time!

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