Know-How News by MarketingProfs.com

Issue 76 | November 10, 2006

Dear Small Business Marketers,

We have all kinds of interesting things for you today. First, read our Premium article about customer service by senior contributor Jill Griffin. Then get caught up on the latest trends in SEM by Scott Buresh. And learn Nick Usborne's tips for writing copy for a Website home page.

Then find out what's new in our community discussion forum. Hear about a lively conversation defining exactly what constitutes spam. Download one of our seminars free (for a short time). And pick up a couple new sites to surf during your next coffee break. There's something here for everyone.

Happy Friday!

:: Valerie Frazee
:: Know-How News Editor
:: MarketingProfs.com
:: Where 207,200 marketers connect, learn, succeed.

Delivering Frontline 'Wow': Three Must-Haves for Every Employee

The State of Search Engine Marketing: Trends and Predictions

Four Critical Keys to Writing a Web Site Home Page

Don't Drop the Ball -
Pass it to Us

Outsourced marketing support
from Sutherland Corporation.

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Delivering Frontline 'Wow': Three Must-Haves for Every Employee

By Jill Griffin

Whether serving customers face-to-face or via email, the Web, phone, fax, instant messaging, self-service (or some combination thereof), a firm's reputation for world-class customer care is built one customer and one contact at a time. Frontline employees in operations, sales, service, or account management all play key roles in delivering this all-important contact.

Accordingly, a firm must continually evolve its internal operating systems and processes into structures that empower rather than impede the frontline's success with customers. This is a tall order. Yet, keeping an eye on a few key priorities will help you succeed. In fact, employees need three things to perform effectively on the frontline.

Get the full story.

Note: This article is available to our Premium Members only.

The State of Search Engine Marketing: Trends and Predictions

By Scott Buresh

The search engine marketing industry is consistently evolving, sometimes at a pace that makes it hard to believe that search engine marketing services can stay on top of all the latest developments. The one constant for search engine marketing firms, and for the industry in general, is change—usually for the better, sometimes for the worse, but almost always significant.

Get the full story.

Four Critical Keys to Writing a Web Site Home Page

By Nick Usborne

Writers face specific challenges when writing a home page. In fact, home pages can be tricky, simply because your page not only has its own job to do but also has to support a group of second-level pages. Here's how Nick approaches the task ... whether a site has a total of 10 pages or a thousand pages.

Get the full story.

Attack 2007 with the
right Marketing Plan

A lot changed in 2006.
Are the campaigns you
plan for 2007 as effective
as they should be?

Learn more - and get our
complimentary report...

Here are this week's hottest topics. These have been the most active discussions in KHE over the last seven days.

These are this week’s superstars! The Most Stimulating started the hottest discussions. The Most Active contributed the most posts (questions + answers). And the Most Expert earned the most points.

Most Stimulating	Most Active	Most Expert
telemoxie tanagudbranson llammens dcmarketingguy brendabertrand W.M.M.A. gphikonoske Rita Wilhelm ohromeo enquiries	kathysmithcasting Frank Hurtte shghosh W.M.M.A. telemoxie peanutpeanut proeditor mgoodman Harry Hallman darcy.moen	shghosh Frank Hurtte telemoxie darcy.moen kathysmithcasting thinkmor Heal3r paca001 michael jlevin

This week's Lessons Learned was an easy pick. We think you'll enjoy the following discussion about exactly where different marketers draw the line between spam and acceptable mail. Not all unsolicted email is illegal or bad. Telemoxie reminds us of this as he leads a thoughtful exploration of the topic. Several of our long-time participants have weighed in. We'd love to hear from you too.

Discussion: Your Opinions Please: Unsolicited Email in the U.S.

Have something to add? Please do! You could earn points.

Today's perk for KHN subscribers is our seminar: Bridging the B2B Sales and Marketing Gap. Click here to read the description. Then use the link below to replay the seminar before next Friday. (The time limit is just for non-Premium Plus members. Premium Plus members may replay the seminar any time.)

Resource: Bridging the B2B Sales and Marketing Gap

Or browse 388 resources posted in our Resource Library.

Everyone seems to be all-business this week. We had trouble finding funny discussions in Know-How Exchange, so we launched one ourselves. We got the idea for the topic from Scott Baradell's post about goofing off over in Daily Fix (MarketingProfs' wicked smart blog). Click below to find out where KHErs spend their coffee breaks. And by all means, add your own sites to the list.

Discussion: Your Favorite Websites for Goofing Off

Have something to add? Please do! You could earn points.

Want to share the news? Invite your colleagues to participate in our online discussion forum, Know-How Exchange.

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