It is unnecessary to explain you the importance of getting timely payments from your clients. The thing is what efforts you should make to be sure that you are going to receive your payments on time. If you are a freelancer, web designer or any other service provider, the fact is that money is needed everywhere and that is the sole criterion of every business organization. Therefore, getting timely payments is the essence of every business. Have you ever wondered that what is the reason behind getting deferred payments from your clients? If you search for a solution, you will find that the fault lies within you. This article will help you to give an insight into the various aspects, which should be made clear well before so that you are assured of getting timely payments from your clients.

1 KNOW YOUR CLIENT:-

This is the best way to start with any project. You must gather every possible information about them, their working procedures, and the modes through which they make their payments. This will help you to take necessary steps well before you send your invoice to them. The terms and conditions making payments should be made clear well before you start working with them.

 

2 RELUCTANCY IS NOT GOOD FOR YOUR BUSINESS:-

It is always advisable that you discuss all the aspects regarding your project, submission time, time of making payments, copyrights and all other necessary things should be discussed and that too in a written agreement, if possible. This will avoid any dispute after the completion of the project as you can take all legal actions if everything is discussed on the papers.

 

3 TIMELY BILLING WITH PROPER FORMAT:-

Once you start with your project, you should keep in mind that you send timely invoices to your clients, it is also necessary that the format of your invoice look as professional as your work is because it creates a respectable impression in front of your clients. Be sure that your invoice contains a proper heading with all necessary details mentioned clearly in that.

 

4 BE SERENE:-

If you notice that your payments are getting late, then you must respond tenderly as there may be some difficulty with your client’s payment system. Do not get boisterous as soon as you notice a late payment. Send your client a reminder regarding your payment status, get in touch with the accounts department, and try to get the reason behind the delay. If your payment has been deferred for more than a month then, you should talk to your client and ask him to get it done as soon as possible. Being courteous at these stages will help you to maintain a better and long lasting relationship with your clients.

 

5 TEMPT THEM TO PAY ON TIME:-

However, this is often a difficult task to do, but if done properly, you will never ever face any difficulty regarding your payments. The best way is to provide them some incentives for paying you on time. Provide them with some kind of discounts on making timely payments. This method will surely work with those clients who want to save their money, and in any business, who does not want to save money!

 

6 TRY USING INSTALLMENTS:-

This is another one of the most effective techniques adopted by most of the freelancers. It may happen that sometimes you have to deal with clients who cannot pay you the lump sum amount at once. You can provide them with an option to pay in installments. It will help you to get all your payment without any difficulty and your client will not face any trouble as he can make short payments well on time.

 

7 IT IS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY:-

Never be in a hurry to disclose all your completed work to your client. You can never trust anyone in a moment. Most of the logo designers face this problem when their logo designs are stolen from the pretext of a demo. Therefore, it is always advisable to take your time, get assured of your payments, and then disclose all your completed to your clients.

 
After getting equipped with all the strategies, you can start with your project, but always keep in mind that business is all about continuous growth and to grow and prosper you need to build healthy relations with your clients. So, work hard but simultaneously work smartly also.

Author :

	This post has been shared by Invoicera, an online invoicing and time tracking software which is specifically designed keeping simplicity and online invoicing convenience in mind, while at the same time offering the best of the breed invoicing features.

]]> http://www.dwsmg.com/7-tips-to-get-hasty-payments-from-your-client.html/feed 6 http://www.dwsmg.com/20-creative-wine-and-beverage-posters.html http://www.dwsmg.com/20-creative-wine-and-beverage-posters.html#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:17:53 +0000 admin http://www.dwsmg.com/?p=3923 Today I have brought to you a collection of creative wine and beverage posters. No doubt, alcohol is the highly consumed product all over the world. It is consumed in different forms and is advertised in different forms. This collection of wine and beverage posters is creative and shows the creative bent of mind of the creators. So, just checkout and don’t forget to leave your precious comments!

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We have compiled a list of 10 Breeds Of Clients And How to Work with Them, pros and cons of dealing with them for your benefit.

1. The Know-It-All Client

How Can You Identify Him: Such a client is very easy to spot because he will make his presence felt instantly. He will often brag about his past achievements and claim to know not only his job but yours as well.
Pros Of Working With Him: They can be easy to work with if you can leave your opinions aside and do exactly what the client wants. There will be no clashes of interest or grouses later as you would have done exactly what was asked of you.
Cons Of Working With Him: You will have to leave your inputs to yourself as they will not be appreciated. But that can cause you ethical dilemma. Some of these clients are even known to turn around and say that they’ve done the thinking job for you just to delay payments.
How Do You Deal With Him: Make it a point to note that you are following your client’s idea only because he wants it that way. Otherwise you are capable of doing your job without any input as well. After that, just go with the flow and don’t question your client’s ideas.

2. The Insecure Client

How Can You Identify Him: This breed of client is paranoid. He will wave an elaborate legal contract at you right at the onset. Needless to mention the agreement will be heavily stacked in his favor.
Pros Of Working With Him: As long as you follow the legally binding agreement you will not get into any trouble and will be paid on time. Make sure the contract isn’t too lopsided in your client’s favor.
Cons Of Working With Him: You will have to make doubly sure there are no loopholes in the contract that your client might use to not pay you when your job is done. It often means taking legal advice, which will cost you money.
How Do You Deal With Him: Such clients are only worth the effort if it’s a big size job that brings in decent amount of money. Factor in your legal costs to go through contracts before quoting him the sum for your services.

3.The Appreciative Client

How Can You Identify Him: This kind of client will not stop singing your praises and will give you a pat on the back for every small thing you have done.
Pros Of Working With Him: They are a dream to work with and will usually be happy with your services. And even if they are not, they will put it in a way that will motivate you to work further on the project.
Cons Of Working With Him: There are no foreseeable cons of working with this kind of client, only that they are few and far between. Just don’t judge all your clients by the same token or you will be disappointed.
How Do You Deal With Him: There is not much you have to do beyond doing your job to the best of your abilities. The rewards and praises will keep coming in. You can reciprocate the gesture by according your special client with the treatment he deserves.

4. The I-Love-Bargains Client

How Can You Identify Him: You are used to seeing this client in your everyday life in different spheres. He just loves his bargains, whether when he goes shopping or making a business deal with you. No matter what price you quote for your services he will negotiate the hardest.
Pros Of Working With Him: If you are smart enough and identify this client early, you can make deals that work for you as much for him. Such clients are good for long term benefits as they are likely to be repeat clients.
Cons Of Working With Him: You might end up feeling like you have got a raw deal if you give in too much to these clients. Also some of them are likely to try under hand methods to get further discounts or get out of payments, so beware.
How Do You Deal With Him: The trick is to spot him early before you begin negotiations. This way you will gain the upper hand and quote a sum that you know will be hacked down further but at least you will get a fair deal.

5. I Know What I Don’t Want Client

How Can You Identify Him: This breed of client will be very inarticulate and incapable of clearly expressing what is it that he wants. And that’s probably because he doesn’t know that himself and that makes him indecisive. But he will be quick to point out what he doesn’t want.
Pros Of Working With Him: It has to be by fluke, that you come up with exactly what this client wants because you wouldn’t know what to give him unless he tells you. But if it does happen, you will have won this client for ever and he will turn into an appreciative client.
Cons Of Working With Him: Working with him can be excruciating because you will spend time and energy trying out different ideas to give him the result. But that can all go to waste if he doesn’t like it. There will be strained relationships and a bad taste in your mouth without much gain.
How Do You Deal With Him: This is one rare breed of client that you can stay away from if you want to avoid headaches. Make sure you remind him of costs for different alternatives you will try to give him what he wants but doesn’t know exactly what it is.

6. Always In A Rush Client

How Can You Identify Him: All the correspondence with such a client will be marked as urgent. He will work odd hours of the day and night and also expect you to do so. He will demand your time as if he is your only client and you are supposed to drop everything else to attend to him.
Pros Of Working With Him: These clients are usually good at payments because they know they are constantly pushing you against deadlines. You can also take advantage of the situation by charging them over hourly basis rather than for entire project and they won’t mind paying up.
Cons Of Working With Him: You will always be given short timeframes to finish your job and there won’t be a moment of peace while it’s done. Such clients will be breathing down your neck and will demand regular updates, adding to your stress.
How Do You Deal With Him: By all means give these clients your attention but don’t overlook your other clients because of them. When you have to put them off for time, do so subtly rather than being aggressive. Such clients stand up for you when you need them the most.

7. I’ll Run It By The Committee/Board Client

How Can You Identify Him: He will try to sound like the voice of authority but he usually isn’t and will have to run every decision by a committee in charge. Such clients are mostly seen associated with large corporates.
Pros Of Working With Him: Since such clients aren’t able to take decisions on their own it’s possible to take some liberties with your services and slip them without being noticed.
Cons Of Working With Him: Committee members can take ages to get together and decide, which means agonizing wait for you. It’s usually couple of members in the committee who influence these decisions and that might work against you.
How Do You Deal With Him: Always stand your ground and charge a higher fee for such big corporate houses. If you can, identify the decision making members of the committee and target them for responses if you are making a presentation.

8. I’ll Take Whatever You Give Me Client

How Can You Identify Him: Such clients will make do with whatever product you give them. They are unassertive and won’t be very demanding. In fact they won’t even mind if you keep them waiting for long periods.
Pros Of Working With Him: You will be working in a very relaxed environment and at the end of it you will always have a happy client, no matter what you give him.
Cons Of Working With Him: It might outwardly seem like a winning situation to you, but don’t be fooled or worse still become complacent. Not all clients will be doormats like this breed and you might fall into the trap of performing lesser than what you actually can.
How Do You Deal With Him: You will have to be extremely disciplined and even conscientious to deliver good quality output on time. It’s good for you and your company’s reputation to do so. Also watching out for your clients who can’t look after themselves will bring you credibility.I’ll Take Whatever You Give Me Client.

9. The Miserly Client

How Can You Identify Him: This breed of client will come to you with a very tight budget, which will be on account of various reasons. They will always have their explanations for low budgets ready and will rattle them off to you without you asking for it.
Pros Of Working With Him: Since these clients get their jobs done very cheaply they are not in the position to make unreasonable demands. Some of them might even be appreciative of your services provided at low costs.
Cons Of Working With Him: Your profit margins are rarely high enough and you will have to take on more work from these clients to even things out. Some miserly clients will still expect to be treated like your best clients, which can be extremely annoying.
How Do You Deal With Him: Make sure you remind them that they are on low budgets and hence cannot be your priority clients. Such clients are easily dispensable if they start getting too demanding and even aggressive at times.

10. The You-Don’t-Know-What-You-Are-Missing Client

How Can You Identify Him: You will identify this kind of client with the general swagger in his demeanor and dealings. He’s probably a high profile client who might not pay you much but will have a project that will up your stakes in the market.
Pros Of Working With Him: Working for these clients will be good for your brand image. You will gain a reputation of being sought after, which will only add to your credibility. You will further get helpful contacts and leads into other such cool projects.
Cons Of Working With Him: These clients will make you feel like they are doing you a favour by letting you work for them, so you can forget just payments for your jobs. Resentment can build in if you work for such clients more often, which might make you cynical.
How Do You Deal With Him: Don’t pick too many of these clients, instead work with them sparingly. That too with a clear thought in your head that you are doing the job to up your profile and not monetary gains. If you are okay with that, such clients can be hugely beneficial in giving you a good break.

With this insight on your clients, you will be able to prioritize them, win over your best clients while get rid of clients who cause more headaches than profits if need be. Efficient client-management is a mantra to remember for your business relationships.

Almost everyone in the planet has a trigger known as “motivation” in the mind and this is instilled deep within a person’s brain. Usually this needs a simple “push button” trigger to place in order.

This idea of controlling your mind has always tempted successful salesman. Since this gives the person an understanding of other people’s mind.

Bringing down the resistance level is the secret to being a good salesman. The person who asks questions is the one who controls. You have to talk 30% and listen 70%. Here is a 7-follow up step of the selling process and it guarantees that you will win every time!

1. Create bonding and you will be paid in return.

Most companies offer freebies and extra miles, and your vendees love them. Giving away something for free is capable of producing guilt and the feeling to return grows. The desire to pay back grows when you get something for free. For all this you need to create a connection with your vendees. The first 10-15 minutes is very important to create a bond. After that you can sit back, and watch them purchase

2. Make them dream.

While you talk make them dream. You can make them imagine how they would feel with the product in their life. How would the product help to improve their living? Once they start imagine their life once they have the product. Your job is easy.

3. Cover all aspects of the initial contact.

If the first meeting didn’t work out, remember to get back to your vendee. Restate the reason for your call, and what is your expected outcome. Usually second meeting is always comfortable and easy than the first.

4. Project as if you are the boss.

Make sure that you publicize who is buying your products. There is nothing wrong in doing this. If you have satisfied buyers let other know about it. Show them how the experts approve of your products. You can even ask your clients to write testimonials for you; even bribe them if it is necessary. You can offer discounts, bonus, free sample in for of bribes. The more credibility you create the better you product sells, the more authentic your message is, the less resistance you face.

5. Have a Good story to tell.

Something is magical about stories. When you elaborate you product with make believe stories your client becomes a participant in the story, and this is where they start to get the FEEL. At this point you get to control their imagination and tell them what you are selling. Unconsciously, a memory is created and becomes hard to overlook.

6. Commitment to create a long-term bond.

When a person buys a product they tend to trust it, and once the product gets the confidence after the first sale, customers buy it over and over again. When the product is laced with offers and discounts people obviously will go for the product disregarding the price.

7. Curiosity leads to wisdom.

When you begin your presentation, promise what will happen once you finish and just keep the curiosity going.

For keeping your prospect in suspense, curiosity is one great tool. Deliberately leave some of the information out so as to trigger the thought process. You have to inculcate and stimulate the curiosity process early in your presentation.

No one in this world likes to be sold! This is a key point you have to remember. The objections people project are mere excuses as they don’t want to be sold. Even if you sell a brand new Audi for $200 you will still face some degree of objections.

You have to find ways around these objections. You should be prepared for these objections. You should put yourself in your client’s shoes and think of every possible objection that you might face. Be prepared and let down you resistance, all the rest will be magic.

Tiny bees go on about their jobs with single minded dedication and skills that any management guru will be proud to imbibe in his pupils. But why pay big bucks for this master class when you can learn lessons of life and business from bees themselves.

10 Valuable Life And Business Lessons You Can Learn from Bees:

Excellent Communicators

Bees are excellent communicators and always stay in touch with their hives when they go out looking for food. They keep the entire group in the loop; any vital tips like where vast amounts of pollen can be found are relayed to other members. Every business and personal relationship can benefit from such effective communication where there no secrets kept.

Quick Learners

Bees are quick learners and use their natural surroundings to know what they can extract the most out of. Bees are observant in choosing the kind of flowers that give them good rewards but can as easily discard them in adverse weather conditions when they are of no use to them. Now that strategy could work wonders for businesses if they could move beyond their rigid formulas to look at more profitable options.

Team Players

Bees are team players as they work for each other. They work together in large groups; if an individual or a part of the group fails, other members make up of for it. That’s why productivity never suffers. Now which team leader won’t want to see that in his/her team?

Stick to Tasks Assigned

Bees stick to tasks assigned to them and complete them to the best of their abilities. There is a defined hierarchy; male bees mate, house bees build hives etc. Bees assume roles given to them without a grouse and fulfill them with aplomb. After all, every task is important.

Multi Utility Products

Bees make multi utility products; besides honey that has its numerous uses, their wax is used in cosmetics, their hives are architects’ inspiration. As a business your goal should be to create products or services that have relevance in many fields.

Highly Adaptable

They are highly adaptable to drastic changes in their surroundings and can get back to their jobs instantly. Only if we learned to be so adaptable to change.

Ever-Evolving

Bees are ever-evolving. There have been natural disasters and climate changes, but bees have kept on growing, evolving and working.

Experience Counts

For bees, experience counts.Young bees aren’t sent out hunting for food, just like young interns should not be making important business calls from the onset.

Strong Leader

Bees have a strong leader in their Queen. Her mere presence helps them function brilliantly, while they are in disarray in the absence of the Queen. Every business and team needs a strong leader.

Strong Sense of Responsibility

Bees are known to have a strong sense of responsibility. This is difficult to imbibe in your team because it cannot be forced but has to be cleverly inculcated. Bees naturally have a strong work ethic; in fact they thrive on their work.

Bees offer many such precious lessons, so don’t bee-little them but watch and learn.

Though not competing with facebook and the like, this widely used web e-mail service has been trying to earn itself the title of a social networking site. Not putting a full stop here, and with increased efforts, yahoo is bringing drawing more services for its users. This integration shall take place through a special partnership between the two firms.

Though not being pushed broadly as of now, these new features – updating the facebook status via yahoo mail and also accessing photos of contacts; will be hitting only a few selected markets initially but will be opened to wider market within a couple of months.

Yahoo has also launched a facility that enables importing Facebook contact’s e – mail addresses via the contact importer. Though this is an ordinary feature, it is likely to receive a warm welcome from yahoo mail users as well as from facebook users.

The best part of the entire news is that facebook shall grant access to your data without you having to fill a separate form, all you will be required to do is click on “add to Facebook” in the status section of Yahoo Mail’s What’s New page and signing in using your Facebook account. Once the accounts are linked, users can type a message in a status box that appears in Yahoo Mail and choose to post it on Facebook, on Yahoo or both. If they choose to post it on Yahoo, the status message shows up on their contacts’ What’s New page in Yahoo Mail.

Social media has redefined the way people communicate with each other by breaking up the cultural and geographical boundaries. Big companies utilize the power of social media for the growth of business.

Social media reflects an important change in how the public substance is controlled and consumed. Social media has abridged the distance for communicating a message between the sender and the receiver. Today, the information highway is not only about control and command but it is also concerned with collaborating and connecting. For example, major newspapers like Singapore’s Straits Times and the New York Times have created online channels where they allow the consumers to choose the news they wish to read. With tools like RSS feeds, one can pick exactly the kind of news they want. Consumption of information has altered from push to pull.

Social media has helped in redefining cultural boundaries. If a company wants to make a global network, it has to look at the target group of each country and needs to be sensitive towards its cultural backgrounds. But with the help of social media, all this is steadily narrowing down as communication has become easier and quick from a cultural perception.

In earlier times, the companies employed print advertisements to market their product, while today companies can simply place their product on the blog to advertise and sale. Certain companies are apprehensive of this task, while others take their chances and traverse on social media sign to attain greater heights.

The augment of new online culture has widened the wave of social media for the individuals and the companies. People come together to use the benefits of social media. They are segmented on the basis of their interests and the way of using social tool. Editorial links, peer recommendations, paid advertisements on social media sites helps in finding you the potential consumers and interested individuals. It is an effective tool to promote your business and a powerful strategy that helps in getting links and huge amounts of traffic on your site.

If you wish to publish content for ad revenue or want to sale any product, social media is a powerful method that will make help in gaining good profits over the time. There is no other promotional method that is cost effective and also gives you a large number of visitors.

There are many companies that have been successful in implementing the power of social media to their advantage. The social media strategy varies from wikis, micro blogging, online video and social networks to photosharing, podcasting, widgets and many more. Some of the companies using social media marketing are as follows:

1. Accenture

Accenture a leading IT company brings out the latest research findings and insights on elevating high performance from a congregation of company leaders.

Their blog features thought on a wide series of business issues, with specific focus on helping companies attain high performance. One can also find information about emerging expertise and career experience from certain employees.

2. Abbott labs

To deal with the scarcity of young people who wish to work in medical laboratories, an association of medical diagnostics companies headed by Abbott Labs initiated a scholarship competition on Facebook. The students were asked to create T-shirt, print and video advertisements for the profession.

According to the organization, the social media campaign reached to almost 1.9 million students interested in science.

3. Bank of America

Bank of America has applied the power of social media by creating a small online community. It is an interactive community providing helpful and thriving information.

4. British Airways

British airways has effectively advertised and updated the information through Twitter. Twitter is an online service that allows you to stay in touch with people with the exchange of answers to the questions.

5. Coca-cola

Coca cola created a blog to share information on an extensive range of topics, varying from their brand history to role in pop culture. With the means of social media they were able to communicate effectively with the masses.Being part of our daily lives, the coca cola advertising also includes aspects from daily life like peanut butter on crackers.

6. Gartner

Bio Gartner is a prominent source of objective and independent technology related search and advice. Gartner applied social media channels through twitter services.

7. Hewlett Packard

HP blogs are written by a range of employees belonging to different levels and positions in the company. Thus one can expect diverse viewpoints on various important issues.

8. HSBC

The HSBC created a new online Business Network for beginners and small businesses. One can express their views, share discussions and gain valuable suggestions on issues concerning your business and company. It is an effective means of social media where people can take advice and support from the other fellow entrepreneurs.

9. IBM

IBM used wiki to generate a set of guideposts for all IBMers who wished to blog. The guidelines aimed at providing practical and helpful advice to safeguard both IBM bloggers and IBM itself, with the view of embracing the blogosphere. From there onwards, many new patterns of social media have come forth. The effort has widened the scope of the presently existing guideposts to involve all forms of social computing.

Social media is no longer a passage for only personal use. It is rapidly becoming a necessity for the success of business. Big companies and businesses are entering into the blogosphere and post the profile pages of their companies in online communities. Even the Small companies are adopting the similar ways of social media. What is great about the online business world is that you do not require a million dollar budget for marketing. In fact, the most successful online connections entail free personal interactions between a business owner and their community.

In this age of internet when the market is all the more competitive we have to understand that any company cannot afford losing any client or customer. Thus the companies are trying to attract and glue the customer or client to itself through any means. This becomes all the more important and inevitable in case of repetitive customers. Some of the ways to show the market that you care for it are as follows.

• Market Care through meeting in person: In this fast moving professional world hardly does anyone have time for others. Caring is something intangible but an effective marketing tool. If you visit a person personally it makes a lot of difference.
• Market Care through phone: When you cannot go and meet the person face to face a phone cane serve the purpose.
• Market Care through e-mail: When you can neither meet a person face to face nor have the time to phone then the last option with you is to use the internet and email.

(1) Try visiting your professional acquaintances and associates not only during happy social occasions but also serious ones such as sickness and being hospitalized. This is supposed to have a positive impact on your customers. If you cannot visit them personally then phone and if you don’t have time of this too then the only resort with you is to email.
(2) Birthday/ Wedding anniversary day: Out of all the days in a given year the birthday and important anniversaries are the most important. Never forget to wish your customers on birthdays or wedding anniversary day. Sometimes the day the business came into existence is of prime importance for the proprietor. Wish him/ her on the auspicious day. Your birthday wish can make the customer feel appreciated. Do not forget that it is because of their existence that you have on customer or client.
(3) Welcome: When every a customer or supplier associates with you, he is entering your world for your survival. Welcome him. This in person could be through a good smile and welcome of your receptionist. If the customer has registered and bought your services through the internet either respond by email acknowledging his/ her registration or at least phone. Remember that the first impression is the last impression and it is going to be the impression that is going to breathe life into your business through long term relationship.

(4) Confirmation: When you send an email to the person concerned get the confirmation of the receipt. Try and phone whenever you get time to get the feedback. On the other hand if your subordinate has phoned the concerned person then phone him/ her when you get time. Make sure that the content of the email is satisfactory for the receiver. Getting a feedback of the message that was sent earlier creates a platform for you to speak and communicate with the client or customer.
(5) Incomplete sale: Sometimes, what ever be the reason, the customer does not purchase the product or the services. You are sure whatever went wrong, went wrong when the deal was about to close. In any case, online marketing as well as offline marketing you have links to contact that customer. Try to contact him/ her and try to know the reason for not buying the product or services. While seeking this response never behave rudely. On the other hand you may come to know some logical reason for the abrupt break. It may be even a fault in your software or some natural calamity. You cannot be sure what the customer or the client underwent so you have no right to allege anything.
(6) Inactive connection: When you know that the connection between you and the customer is inactive for some days, then there is a warning signal. The more you delay in contacting him or her more is the chance of losing him or her. As mentioned earlier every customer is valuable. If the line of connection is inactive for time duration that is abnormal then contact him or her through email or phone or send a representative of the company to call on and make a follow up. Try to know the reasons for the connection to be inactive. This may open your eyes to the strategies of the competitors.

(7) Confirm the Transaction: The physically delivery of the product may take some time but the transaction of money hardly takes any time. Usually we see that the customer is a bit restless after paying the money online. Once you receive the money confirm the transaction of it with the payer so that he / she knows that the money has reached where it had to reach and he/ she is going to get the product without much delay. The company can also mention other schemes and incentives to the buyer along with this letter of acknowledgement.
(8) Customer Satisfaction: Show the customer that you car for him or her by offering a scheme wherein you mention that if the customer is not satisfied with the product he or she can return it within a stipulated time and all the money will be refunded without any deductions. State clearly that even the courier charges will be paid by the company. This will reinforce the bond of trust between the company and the customer and even address the factor of customer satisfaction. This shows how much you care for the customer.
(9) Discounts: Whenever a new product or service is launched in the market it is offered at discount. Let your loyal customers know about it and avail it. If they know that they are the first ones to come to know and given the first chance to buy they will feel very privileged.
(10) Festivals: Festive times are to greet the people. Do not miss the chance to greet people on this occasion because this comes once in a year. There is no second chance in this. Do not forget to wish you customers as well as your associates and employees because all contribute to the success of your business.

If you care for the market the market will care for you.

1. Endless Referrals:

This book is written by Bob Burg. There are many books about “networking” but none is as good as this book because this book addresses two issues simultaneously. The first one is description of the broad spectrum of options that generate referrals. The second one is the description of specific, actionable, steps as Endless Referrals of Bob Burg. This book shows what to choose the implementation of a referral action program.

2. Guerrilla Marketing, 4th edition: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business

Jay Conrad Levinson is the author of this book. The Guerrilla Marketing book series has redefined the marketing. Among the marketing book series this is the best selling in the world.
The rules for authors interested in creating a brand that is based on title have be redefined in this book. The different versions of the books are aimed at specific vertical markets.

3. The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly

This book is authored by David Meerman Scott. This book has created a new model for publishing success. This book has come out with a new connection between the books and the internet marketing. This book also reveals how giving of free ebooks and chapter sharing with readers can help the sales success of the book.

4. Primal Branding: Create Zealots for Your Brand, Your Company, and Your Future

This book is written by Patrick Hanlon. This book shows how to approach branding in an organized way. This book avoids the usual abstractions. This book is based on a few case studies and key concepts. This book provides a program that is easy and can be easily programmed.

5. Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking

The author of this book is Andy Sernovitz. This book is one of the most trusted ones. At the same time you will find that the marketing tools mentioned in this book are also the most misunderstood marketing tools. This books shows how to handle effectively the word of mouth marketing.

6. My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising (Advertising Age Classics Library)

This book is authored by Claude Hopkins. This book has nearly everything and every aspect about copywriting. The author of this book has been the inventor of coupon sampling and test marketing. The basic fundamentals and fixed principles mentioned in this book prevail even today.

7. The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right

This book is penned by Debbie Weil. This book is to the point. This book highlights the main blogging concepts to the corporate executives. It also show the importance of meaningful blogs to attract the customers and clients.

8. Jump Start Your Business Brain: Scientific Ideas and Advice That Will Immediately Double Your Business Success Rate

Doug Hall is the author of this book.This books identifies the elements that should be contained in your marketing messages. Big profit can be achieved by small changes in the content of the message.

9. The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need

The author of this book is Daniel H. Pink. This book is published in Manga Style which is basically from Japan. This book is an excellent combination of a great medium and equally fine message. This book shows how topics that are complex can be simplified especially for audiences who run short of time to read voluminous books. This feature makes it a great gift for recent college graduates.

10. Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged

This book is authored by Michael A. Stelzner. This book reveals the marketing powers of the white paper. A step by step plan for the creation of a series of white papers is provided in this book. The mailing list can be best built with the help of white papers. The book reveals what the white papers should include and exclude.

11. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter)

This book is penned by Garr Reynolds. This book is about making the presentations more lively and interesting so that the audience do not get bored. The author makes his points clear with the help of simple ideas that are quite productive and effective. This book is a must for those marketing professionals who have to do presentations day in and day out.

12. Streetwise Relationship Marketing On The Internet (Streetwise):

The author of this book is Roger C. Parker. This book emphasizes on the importance of a long term, content driven relationship view of website. After the advent of the internet many people have started giving importance to websites as a customer retention tool. This book stresses on viewing websites.

13. The White Paper Marketing Handbook:

Robert W. Bly is the author of this book. This book primarily focuses on white paper. It has relevant content about successful direct marketing. This book can also be of much help at generation of qualified leads through the internet or in print media.

14. Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers

This book is penned by Seth Godin. This book has best of advice on advertising. This book emphasizes on the need of offering a bait to the prospective customer or client so that he/she pays more attention to the message given by the volunteer. Volunteering is one of the best ways to seek the attention of the prospective customer or client because the other ways of drawing the attention of the client or customer have become too common in the market.

15. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Edition

This book is written by Al Ries and Jack Trout. This book is about positioning the product. This book also gives an insight into the mind of the customer. The strategies mentioned are exemplified with numerous examples. This first version of this book was out in 1981 but is applicable even today.

Some of the other books, which you may find an interesting read, are as follows:

1. Competing For The Future By C.K. Prahalad & Gary Hamel.

2. Kotler on Marketing: How to Create, Win, and Dominate Markets By Philip Kotler.

3. How to Win Friends and Influence People By Dale Carnigie.

4. Market Research: A Guide to Planning, Methodology and Evaluation By Paul Hague.

5. Art of War By Sun Tzu.

6. Strategic Management By Gregory Dess, Lumpkin & Taylor.

7. How Winners Sell: 21 Proven Strategies to Outsell Your Competition and Win the Big Sale By Dave Stein.

8. Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® 2007 to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire By Cliff Atkinson.

9. Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing By Harry Beckwith.

10. Marketing Services: Competing Through Quality By Parasuraman & Leonard L. Berry.

11. Marketing Management (12th Edition) (Marketing Management) By Philip Kotler.

12. Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy, 9/e, (with DDB Needham Data Disk) By Hawkins, Best, & Coney.

13. Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers By Geoffrey A. Moore.

14. Mind and Heart of the Negotiator, The (3rd Edition) By Leigh Thompson.

15. Radically Transparent By Andy Beal & Judy Strauss.

Time: Internet marketing can go on round the clock 24 hours a day 7days a week all throughout the year. In short this is also called “24x7x365.” Earlier in traditional marketing there used to be a time constraint. Now when one part of the globe is awake the other part is sleeping and the internet is taking the best advantage of that. The companies in USA, Canada and even UK outsource their work to South East Asian Countries and in this way the Call Centres are working for 24 hours. During the day time these call centres cater to the local market and at night the overseas market. The time barrier has broken just because of the internet marketing.

Geography: Earlier there were geographical hurdles. It used to take person hours to reach from one corner of the globe to another. Moreover it used to take days for the letters to reach the destination. The Internet has shrunk the globe into a global village where the geographical barriers have just melted and disappeared. Internet market knows no bounds. Wherever there is internet connection the internet marketing is possible. Marketing through email is also possible and it just takes seconds for an email to reach its destination. One needs to have a right email address.

Marketing from Home: Earlier it was thought that for marketing any products or services one needs to have an office of his own. This is not true in this age of internet. One can make the internet marketing expand your business from home itself. On the other hand if you have multiple offices you supervise and monitor their working sitting at home. Online marketing has made things very easy.

Showroom: Earlier a person had to have a showroom to show off the goods for sale. This is not necessary now. The products for sale can be displayed on your website and the customer can order them from home itself. The only thing that you as a seller have to do is confirm the financial transaction and deliver the goods at the place specified by the buyer. This saves a lot of expenditure both on the part of seller as well as the buyer. This saves a lot of time because the buyer can order the products any time (24x7x365). One cannot keep the shop open for this much time.

Manpower: The internet has reached inside the houses of many people. This is an age where entry into anyone’s house is restricted. You cannot directly enter anyone’s house. The only way you can enter the house is through the internet. Internet marketing has not only opened the house doors but also the minds of the people. With the help of internet marketing one can reach specific customers or specific clients simultaneously in a wide geographical area. If a business house were to employ people for reaching this many prospective clients or customers at the same time then it would cost the company a fortune. Moreover with such a large manpower the returns are not assured. In case of internet marketing the manpower needs are lesser in comparison to traditional marketing.

Direct contact: Everyone knows that more the middle men the more is the price of the product. In traditional marketing there used to be a lot of middle men till the product used to reach the customer. Now the customer can directly order the product from the net. In case of internet marketing the number of middle men is drastically reduced. Thus the business houses can offer the same products or services at a lesser price than that offered in the tradition marketing system. Now the seller has to just take care of the delivery of the product to the customer.

Advertisement and Product Promotion: In online marketing the expenses for advertisement and product promotion are far cheaper than those expenses with reference to traditional marketing. Thus online marketing can help the business house to reduce expenses for product promotion and advertisement and save a lot of money.

Customer care: In this competitive market every single customer is dear for any business house. Customer care services can be best provided through the internet. The quicker the customer care services the more satisfied are the customers. This helps in customer retention as well as generation of new queries and customers. Your care and concern for the customer can be even expressed through emails. This aspect of internet marketing can enhance you business by many folds.

Return on Investment: The internet marketing can save a lot of money for any business house. Just take for example if a business house would like to opt for the traditional marketing through mailer first of all the addresses would have to be collected , printed and then pasted on the envelopes, the mailer would have to be prepared , inserted in the envelop and then posted with the postage stamps on it. This would cost a lot for the company on the other hand in internet market once you have the email addresses you can send email to all of them by just a click. This will save time, money and energy. Moreover when the email addresses are of target audience only, the chances of the sale increase a lot. The return on investment for internet marketing is much higher than that in traditional marketing.

Management Information System: If the business house is already having production and marketing setups and network in different corners of the globe the management information system can be streamlined with the help of the internet. The senior level management and the board of directors can come to know what is going on just by clicking the necessary icon on the screen of the computer. One can know the performance of any sales or marketing personnel in the remotest part of the world just with the help of internet.