Resources SMI MORE CONTENT: VIDEOS | PODCASTS | ARTICLES Categories All Most Recent Branding Business Customer Service Direct Mail Email Holiday Marketing Leads Marketing Planning Publicity Retention Sales Social Media Web Marketing Current Issue Sales & Marketing Insider Don’t Blame the Media Read Now Targeting New Homeowners with Direct Mail 2 min Read Measuring the Success of Your Email Campaigns 2 min Read Why Would Anyone Read Your Email Message? Email | 2 min Read Guiding Prospects Through the Funnels Sales | 2 min Read Are You $100 Better? Branding | 3 min Read Do You Love Your Business Enough to Change with it? Business | 3 min Read Does Your Content Fit Your Customers’ Personalities? Marketing | 2 min Read How to Serve by Closing the Sale Sales | 2 min Read Why Direct Mail Is a Keeper Direct Mail | 2 min Read How to Avoid Copywriting Blind Spots Marketing | 2 min Read The Commodity Mindset Retention and Referrals | 3 min Read Good Marketing is a Gift to Your Prospects Marketing | 3 min Read Poor Customer Service Shortchanges a Sound Investment Customer Service | 2 min Read Creating Customer Advocates – One Post at a Time Social Media | 2 min Read Backing Up Your Marketing Claims Marketing | 2 min Read The All-Important Email Subject Line Email | 2 min Read Straight Shooters Marketing | 3 min Read The Two Most Powerful Words in Marketing Retention and Referrals | 3 min Read Getting Personal with Customers Customer Service | 2 min Read Who’s Marketing with Social Media? Social Media | 2 min Read What’s Wrong with Your Funnel? Marketing | 2 min Read What’s Your Website Budget This Year? Web Marketing | 2 min Read The Myth of Risk Aversion Marketing | 3 min Read Send the DIYers to Pool School Marketing | 3 min Read Is Email Marketing a Big, Silly Waste of Time? Email | 2 min Read How “Customer Experience” Affects Company Success Customer Service | 2 min Read What Can You Learn from a Train Wreck? Publicity | 2 min Read Secrets to a Successful Home Show Business | 2 min Read People that Don’t Exist Could Be Stealing From You Marketing | 3 min Read It’s the Best Place in Town to Take a Leak Publicity | 3 min Read How Much Do Your Customers Trust You? Customer Service | 2 min Read Right-Size Marketing for Searching Prospects Web Marketing | 2 min Read Creating Your Marketing Identity Marketing | 2 min Read Increase Website Traffic with Social Media Web Marketing | 2 min Read Bring Them Into Your Story Marketing | 3 min Read Red Rocks and Pizza on the Moon Marketing | 3 min Read Feel-Good Retention Strategies Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read How to Navigate Direct Mail Trends Direct Mail | 2 min Read How to Improve Your Content Web Marketing | 2 min Read Online Product Demonstrations Increase Conversions Web Marketing | 2 min Read They’ll Never Focus on You If You Can’t Focus Yourself Marketing | 3 min Read Getting Customers to Care About the Big Changes Marketing | 3 min Read Customer Service Is Time Well Spent Customer Service | 2 min Read How a “Call to Action” Can Improve Your SEO Web Marketing | 2 min Read Creating Offers that Get a Response Marketing | 2 min Read Connecting Prospect Behavior to Helpful Suggestions Marketing | 2 min Read Call Him in for a Performance Review Web Marketing | 3 min Read Future Casting Your 2023 Planning | 3 min Read Creating Content and Customer Connections Social Media | 2 min Read How Much Can You Lose Cutting Costs in Customer Service? Customer Service | 2 min Read The Enduring Power of Print Direct Mail | 2 min Read How to Gain Powerful, Sales-Boosting Testimonials Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read More Than a Cartoon Beaver Marketing | 3 min Read Beware the Inventory Graveyard Sales | 3 min Read Innovate Your Marketing Amid Holiday Hoopla Holiday Marketing | 2 min Read Take a Snapshot of Your Marketing Picture Marketing | 3 min Read The #1 Sales Offense Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read How to Measure Your Customer Focus Web Marketing | 3 min Read Build a Passionate Fanbase Branding | 3 min Read There’s More to Marketing Than Just Keeping Busy Marketing | 3 min Read The Secrets of Outdoor Advertising Marketing | 2 min Read Having a Customer Driven Homepage Web Marketing | 2 min Read The Starting Line for Your Bottom Line: Your Customer Database Customer Service | 2 min Read Don’t Waste an Open Email on a Misfired Message Email | 2 min Read “You should be a two-star general by now…” Marketing | 3 min Read Max Capacity Marketing | 3 min Read Is Social Media Broken? Social Media | 2 min Read Value Proposition: The Questions You Should Be Asking Marketing | 2 min Read Reaching a Point of Mutual Understanding (and Closing the Sale) Sales | 2 min Read People Who Need People Need Low-Cost Networking Secrets Social Media | 2 min Read What’s Your Sizzle? Marketing | 3 min Read I Got Business Ghosted Business | 3 min Read Are You Violating Social Media’s “Unwritten” Conduct Rules? Social Media | 2 min Read Who Do You Think You Are? Branding | 2 min Read What is Google Analytics 4? Web Marketing | 2 min Read Why Isn’t My Website Performing Like It Used To? Web Marketing | 2 min Read Don’t Propose on the First Date Sales | 3 min Read Want to Know the Future? Don’t ask Jeff Bezo; He focuses on the Past. Business | 3 min Read Best Online Practices For HVAC Companies Web Marketing | 2 min Read The Philosophy of Publicity Publicity | 2 min Read Is Your Digital Strategy SMART? Web Marketing | 2 min Read The Frugal Wow Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read Take Care of Your People Business | 3 min Read Everyone Gets a Lambo Marketing | 3 min Read Appealing to the Customer Mindset Sales | 2 min Read Planning and Goals Planning | 2 min Read Google Ad Updates You Need To Know About For 2022 Web Marketing | 2 min Read A Good Headline Conveys Value Marketing | 2 min Read My, How You’ve Grown! Marketing | 3 min Read The Common Denominator in All My Failures Is… Marketing | 3 min Read Do You Know Your Competitors? Business | 2 min Read Reaching Out to Old, Cold Leads Leads | 2 min Read Tips for Tough Times in MA Renewals Marketing | 2 min Read Are You Losing 80% of Your Sales? Sales | 2 min Read How Google Local Services Ads Can Benefit Your Company Web Marketing | 3 min Read Just Chuck it Against the Wall Planning | 3 min Read Getting High Quality Leads Through Integrated Marketing Leads | 2 min Read Maintaining Customer Loyalty Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read Yes, Reach Your Whole Customer Base – But One Segment at a Time, Please Marketing | 2 min Read How an Unknown Contractor Gets Loyal Customers Marketing | 2 min Read Well, That Didn’t Work Marketing | 3 min Read Why Chuck Norris Would Lose a Pillow Fight Sales | 3 min Read The Sweet Spot for Subject Lines Email | 2 min Read How Direct Mail Copywriting Triggers Response Direct Mail | 2 min Read Email Essential: Optimize for Mobile Size Email | 2 min Read When They’re Happy and You Know It – Ask for a Referral Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read It’s Not Bragging If You Can Back It Up Branding | 3 min Read Move the Trash Can Branding | 3 min Read How Do Unhappy Customers Communicate? Customer Service | 2 min Read Close More Sales Sales | 2 min Read Productivity Hacks for Content Creation Marketing | 2 min Read Why Print Marketing Is Persuasive Marketing | 2 min Read The Art of (Business) War Business | 3 min Read Why Local SEO is Vital for your Business Web Marketing | 3 min Read The Unmatched Benefits of Direct Mail Direct Mail | 2 min Read Improving the Value of Your Social Media Presence Social Media | 2 min Read Avoid These SEO Mistakes Web Marketing | 2 min Read Remarketing: Second Time’s the Charm Web Marketing | 2 min Read YOU are What’s Holding You Back Business | 3 min Read Why is That New Guy Kicking Your Tail? Marketing | 3 min Read Planning for Your Year Planning | 2 min Read Reinforcing Company Values Branding | 2 min Read How to Build Your Content Marketing Strategy Marketing | 2 min Read Addressing the Cost Beyond Price Marketing | 2 min Read Here’s the Truth Behind My Family’s Christmas Card… Holiday Marketing | 3 min Read Is Your Website Ready for March 2021? Web Marketing | 3 min Read Don’t Miss Out on Holiday Marketing Holiday Marketing | 2 min Read Growth Through Service Business | 2 min Read Success Strategies for Google Ads Web Marketing | 2 min Read Is Something Missing in Your Email Marketing? Email | 2 min Read Is Your Brand Winning Enough Votes? Branding | 3 min Read A 54% Increase In Sales: Are Those Typical Results? Marketing | 3 min Read What’s Working in Lead Generation? Leads | 2 min Read Expanding Your Social Marketing Team Social Media | 2 min Read Opportunities and Challenges in Social Media Social Media | 2 min Read The Power of Print Direct Mail | 2 min Read It’s Time for a Change Marketing | 3 min Read Don’t Con Your Customers Marketing | 3 min Read Where Should You Focus Your Social Media Efforts? Social Media | 2 min Read The Secret Success of Lead Magnets Leads | 2 min Read What is SEO? Web Marketing | 2 min Read 3 Things Your Facebook Page Must Have Social Media | 2 min Read Be the One Who Fails the Least Business | 3 min Read Left Turns and Peanuts Marketing | 3 min Read Start Customer Retention on the Right Foot Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read The Most Effective Tactic for Email Engagement Email | 2 min Read Secrets of Landing Page Success Web Marketing | 2 min Read Setting Goals for Your Success Business | 2 min Read Marketing’s Dark Side Marketing | 3 min Read Get to the Point Leads | 3 min Read Gaining Email Subscribers Email | 2 min Read Digital Marketing Tactics for Contractors Web Marketing | 2 min Read How to Get Your Market’s Attention Marketing | 2 min Read What Do Customers Talk About? Customer Service | 2 min Read Life Without Commercial? Business | 3 min Read The Marketing Guy Educates You About 2.8-kW Class Efficiency Marketing | 3 min Read Have You Surveyed Your Customers? Customer Service | 2 min Read Email Essentials Email | 2 min Read Loyalty Goes Both Ways Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read What’s Happening in Social Media? Social Media | 2 min Read Does Your Marketing Feel Personal? Marketing | 3 min Read Are You Tough Enough to Cut Your Own Grass at 90? Marketing | 3 min Read What Do People See in You? Branding | 2 min Read How Fast Does Your Website Load? Web Marketing | 2 min Read What’s Working in Content Marketing? Marketing | 2 min Read What Is Print Marketing? Marketing | 2 min Read What’s in it for me? Marketing | 2 min Read You’re open, but what are you open to? Marketing | 3 min Read Delivering Human-Centered Customer Service Customer Service | 2 min Read Using Specifics in Your Copy Marketing | 2 min Read How to Improve Social Media Engagement Social Media | 2 min Read Marketing Your Services Marketing | 2 min Read It’s Not Fair Marketing | 3 min Read Hero with a Wrench Marketing | 3 min Read Plan Your Email Campaigns Email | 2 min Read Do Customers Understand What You’re Saying? Customer Service | 2 min Read Second Time’s the Charm? Social Media | 2 min Read The Best Return on Your Marketing Investment Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read Are You Building Trust with Your Customers? Marketing | 3 min Read When Your Marketing Gets Personal Marketing | 3 min Read Investing Your Time in Free Publicity Publicity | 2 min Read Keep Focused on Your Local Market Web Marketing | 2 min Read Direct Mail Delivers for Marketers Direct Mail | 2 min Read How Do You Keep Visitors on Your Site? Web Marketing | 2 min Read 100 Million Reasons To Pay Attention To This Brand | 3 min Read Are You Getting This Wrong? Marketing | 3 min Read Creating a Facebook Ad Funnel Social Media | 2 min Read Marketing through Home Shows Publicity | 2 min Read Preparing Your Direct Mail Campaign Direct Mail | 2 min Read The Benefits of Video Marketing Web Marketing | 2 min Read G. I. Joe’s Advice to Contractors Marketing | 3 min Read My Three Predictions for 2020 Direct Mail | 3 min Read What’s the Problem with Your Facebook Ad? Social Media | 2 min Read Pursuing Publicity Publicity | 2 min Read Strategies for Website Success Web Marketing | 2 min Read Keeping Up with the Competition Business | 2 min Read Are You Serious, Clark? Planning | 3 min Read I Could Do Better Business | 3 min Read Prepare Your Voicemail Scripts Customer Service | 2 min Read Navigating Trends in Social Media Social Media | 2 min Read Creating Your Value Proposition Marketing | 2 min Read What’s Working in Email Marketing? Email | 2 min Read This is how I really feel about contractors Marketing | 3 min Read I’ll Pay for your Christmas Holiday Marketing | 3 min Read How to Create Social Media Images Social Media | 2 min Read Generating Leads with Video Leads | 2 min Read There’s a Reason Customers Leave Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read Investing in Customer Service Customer Service | 2 min Read Customers Tell Their Scary Stories Customer Service | 3 min Read I Remember You Marketing | 3 min Read Giving a Big Welcome to Your Email List Email | 2 min Read Generating Leads in the Era of Overwhelm Web Marketing | 2 min Read Blogging for Leads? Leads | 2 min Read How to Stand Out From the Competition Marketing | 2 min Read Here’s Your Round Tuit Marketing | 3 min Read Contractors are Selfish Marketing | 3 min Read Setting Your Price Anchor Marketing | 2 min Read Customer Retention Strategies Soothe Buyer’s Remorse Marketing | 2 min Read Why Clickbait Is a Bad Lure Web Marketing | 2 min Read How Do Your Customers Define Loyalty? Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read Is it Time to Lose the Customers you Have? Branding | 3 min Read Be More than a Number Sales | 3 min Read Funnels for Sales and Marketing Marketing | 2 min Read Become a Social Listener Social Media | 2 min Read Upsell Essentials Marketing | 2 min Read “All I’m Asking for Is a Little Respect.” Sincerely, Direct Mail Marketing | 2 min Read No One Wants to Buy Your Stupid Air Conditioner Marketing | 3 min Read Caution: Your Customers are Being Detoured Marketing | 3 min Read Why Building an Image Matters Branding | 2 min Read Options for Online Ads Web Marketing | 2 min Read Are You Ignoring Your Inbox? Email | 2 min Read Create a Strong Guarantee Business | 2 min Read Don’t Sale Away This Summer Sales | 2 min Read Keep Your Promises? Probably Not to This Person Business | 3 min Read How Direct Mail and Email Work Together Marketing | 2 min Read How Does Service Connect to Marketing Customer Service | 2 min Read Closing More Sales Sales | 2 min Read Reaching Customers on the Go Email | 2 min Read How Contractors Can Lose Trees in the Forest Marketing | 3 min Read The anatomy of a $29 Tune-Up Sales | 3 min Read Trends in Digital and Traditional Media Marketing | 2 min Read How to Call Customers to Action Marketing | 2 min Read Why Direct Mail Delivers for Marketers Direct Mail | 2 min Read How to Write Websites for 5-Second Readers Marketing | 2 min Read Just Cancel My Account… and Lose My Number Marketing | 3 min Read Diligence Marketing | 3 min Read Your Direct Mail “Call to Action” Direct Mail | 2 min Read What’s on Your Homepage? Web Marketing | 2 min Read What’s Ahead for Social Media Video? Social Media | 2 min Read Market Like a Human Marketing | 2 min Read Your Smile Sells Better than Amazon’s Sales | 3 min Read What Does it Take to Really Make a Change? Planning | 3 min Read Fine-Tuning Your Direct Mail Marketing Direct Mail | 2 min Read How to Market Drip by Drip Email | 2 min Read How to Use Video on Facebook Social Media | 2 min Read Why Won’t Prospects Give You Their Email Address? Email | 2 min Read Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes Marketing | 3 min Read Sometimes You Just Have to take the Plunge Marketing | 3 min Read Integrate Your Marketing Campaigns to Increase Response Branding | 2 min Read Maintaining Good Service in Busy Seasons Customer Service | 2 min Read How to Contain Complaints and Serve Customers Customer Service | 2 min Read Four Steps to Better Email Campaigns Email | 2 min Read Holiday Marketing/Internet Marketing Holiday Marketing | 3 min Read You Can’t Lead a Horse to Water Leads | 3 min Read The Value of Building Relationships with Customers Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read What Do Your Employees Tell Your Customers? Publicity | 2 min Read How to Maximize Your Content Marketing Marketing | 2 min Read Developing a Strong Value Proposition Marketing | 2 min Read Quit Selling to Your Customers Sales | 3 min Read Why Customer Retention is the Fuel to Skyrocket Your Business to New Heights Retention and Referrals | 3 min Read Generating Leads with a Call to Action Leads | 2 min Read Mixing Your Digital Marketing Social Media | 2 min Read Promoting Benefits vs. Features Sales | 2 min Read How Social Media Marketing is Changing Social Media | 2 min Read Your Keys to Marketing Integration Marketing | 3 min Read Put Your Hands Up and Scream Planning | 3 min Read Why Customers Ignore Your Direct Mail Direct Mail | 2 min Read Strengthening the Link Between Sales and Marketing Business | 2 min Read How Direct Mail Easily Integrates with Online Marketing Marketing | 2 min Read Making Customers Happy Is Good for Your Image Branding | 2 min Read You Can Build a Better Mousetrap and Still Go Out of Business Marketing | 3 min Read Answers to One of Life’s Great Mysteries Web Marketing | 3 min Read The Winning Strategy of Direct Mail Direct Mail | 2 min Read Helping Technicians Serve Customers Sales | 2 min Read How to Get the Most from Your Facebook Advertising Social Media | 2 min Read Developing a Referral System Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read I’ll give you $1,200 just to pay attention to me… Marketing | 3 min Read The times they are a-changin’… Business | 3 min Read 4 Principles to Improve Your Email Marketing Email | 2 min Read Who Buys Your Products? Sales | 2 min Read Connecting Customer Satisfaction to Customer Retention Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read Choose Your Words Well Customer Service | 2 min Read Were You Looking for This? Marketing | 3 min Read Confessions of an Entrepreneur Business | 3 min Read Creating Impressive Customer Retention Retention and Referrals | 2 min Read How to Get Your Customers to do Your Marketing Marketing | 2 min Read What Does Your Website Need? Web Marketing | 2 min Read There’s Nothing Fishy About A Good Value Proposition Business | 2 min Read Why Businesses Go Under Business | 3 min Read Simply Effective Method That'll Add Sales Now Marketing | 3 min Read ACCA has Mental Lapse and Asks Adams Hudson to Speak at Conference Marketing | 2 min Read Contractors Are People Too? Publicity | 2 min Read Integrate Your Budget with Traditional and Online Strategies Marketing | 2 min Read Are You Setting Old Goals for Your New Year? Planning | 2 min Read New Year, Old Fear, Same Beer Planning | 3 min Read Your Profitable Integrated Marketing Plan Marketing | 3 min Read Creating Ambassadors for Your Company Business | 2 min Read Setting Goals for an Unforgettable Year Planning | 2 min Read Website Fundamentals: Must-Haves for Your Homepage Web Marketing | 2 min Read The Value of Direct Mail Direct Mail | 2 min Read Sales Meets Marketing Sales | 3 min Read The Customer Service Cavity Check Customer Service | 3 min Read Serving Up Holiday “Extras” Holiday Marketing | 2 min Read How to Get Found by Your Customers Web Marketing | 2 min Read Planning and Goals Planning | 2 min Read Better Blogging: Tips for Improvement Marketing | 2 min Read How Smart Marketing Can Beat Up Your Stupid Weather Marketing | 3 min Read Home About Services Contact My Account My CustomerRetention
