Before planning a direct mail campaign, it’s important to take some time and carefully put together your sales material. This is what I refer to as your Prospect Package. Depending on the sales situation, your Prospect Package may be built with several different components.

1. Sales Letter – Keep it simple and not too “techie”.

Another key point is to write down the objective of your sales letter. Are you trying to sell a new service to existing customers… announce a sale to potential clients… create greater demand for a service you already provide? Your letter should then be developed around that single objective for maximum effectiveness.

The body of your sales letter should achieve three different things:

o Maintain the readers attention;

o Calls the reader to action;

o Informs the reader that you are skilled enough to handle their needs.

98% of this can be accomplished by filling your sales letter with benefits, benefits, and even more benefits. The more benefits you can offer, the better your offer will be received. Remember, the reader wants to know what’s in it for them. They want to know that you can improve their current situation.

2. Enclose a Portfolio CD

If you design web sites/graphics, you’ll need a way to show your work to potential clients. Placing your sites/work on a CD is a great way to do this.

This gives your prospects an opportunity to see what you offer, without them having to connect to the Net, and type in your URL’s.

3. Price Sheet – (optional)

Your price sheet simply outlines what your rates are, as well as what’s included with each service. If some of your services are geared towards specific target audiences, then do mention this within the descriptions.

4. Bid Sheet

Include a form that prospects can fill out to get a quote for your services. Ask all the relevant questions needed to respond with a quote.

5. Business Card

Don’t forget to enclose your business card. If they aren’t in need of your services now, they will know who to contact when they are ready.

This is only a condensed plan for a Prospect Package. A detailed description of of an “Knock-Your-Socks-Off” Prospect Package can be found in The Web Hosts and Designer’s Marketing Guide at www.webbizinfo.com.

Order your copy today to move yourself and your business ahead of your competition.

Are you a starting entrepreneur? Is it your first month of operation?

I can hear your knees knocking. Do you wonder whether you can hold your own against the giants that dominate your chosen industry. The entrenched enemy tend to have vast resources, a strong marketing machinery and of course, a powerful brand presence.

How can one compete against that?

It’s easy: with a little bit of entrepreural guerrilla skirmishing. Microsoft did it. Gateway did it. IBM did it. Do you think these companies started out big? Of course not. Microsoft started out from Bill Gate’s backyard.

You can be a Bill Gates. Here’s how.

DOMINATE A NICHE

There’s no sense selling soap, candies or match sticks to the general public. Everyone from Jack to Jill sells this product. Unless you have economies of scale and a whopping system to keep costs low, you can’t fight against the Unilevers of this world. Let the giants sell the commodities. Stick to a well differentiated product that caters tp a small segment of society. For instance, you can market organic dog shampoo to Doberman Owners. Or you can offer custom body kits to Honda Type R afficionados.

Serve a small market segment which the bog boys overlooked. You’ll quickly grow loyal customer base.

DIFFERENTIATE THE PRODUCT

Do you sell pizza? If it looks like Yellow Cab, tastes like yellow Cab and smells like Yellow Cab, your customers would rather go to Yellow Cab. You’ll be regarded as a second rate imitator.

Rather than imitate, differentiate. Provide value adding features to a product that everyone considers commoditizes. If the features are unique and helpful enough, you’ll inspire repeat purchase and massive word of mouth marketing.

Take the example of Hammer Baking Soda. Instead of selling their product as simple baking soda, they positioned it as a super product that removes cooler smells, cleanses, deodorizes and everything else a housewife might need.

Apple wasn’t just another PC. They positioned themselves as a lifestyle.

And Tony Robbins wasn’t just a speech coach. He was an Empowerment Guru- who charges $2000 a seminar.

COST LEADERSHIP

People fight tooth and nail to gain market share. That can be a problem when competition boils down to price wars. Margins diminish and profits sink below the horizon.

Compete on cost leadership! Source your raw materials and labor from third world countries. This allows you to cut prices, but maintain margins. Plus, you give people jobs!

Entrepreneurship can give a high that will make many businessowners forsake sleep and social life just to grow the business. I know- I’ve been an insomniac entrepreneur for years. Maximize your company’s longevity by following the three rules of entrepreneural guerilla skirmishing. You might just end up the next Microsoft!

Helen Keller said, “It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.” Ask yourself a question. Do you know what an opportunity looks like? Describe it. Define it. Bottom line…would you know one if it bit you on the behind? Everyone says they are looking for “one”, Being at the right place at the right time isn’t enough. As network marketing industry legend Randy Gage says, “It’s about recognizing a magic moment of opportunity and acting upon it.”

In network marketing and home-based businesses, everyone says they have the “perfect opportunity.” So how do you evaluate? What is the difference between a golden opportunity and fool’s gold?

The scope of this article is to help you evaluate businesses, determine indicators of success and outline potential risks. I am a CPA, business owner and consultant. I look at businesses from top to bottom, start to finish. There are some fundamental characteristics that will tip you off to a good opportunity. A little homework and investigation can go a long way in helping you make a wise decision.

Nine out of ten business failures are due to lack of general business management skills and proper planning. Misery loves company and mistakes involving any of these three M’s will put you in the distinct company of the “nine” out of ten businesses that fail: Money, Management and Marketing.

>B>Money. It takes a long time for a start-up to become profitable. It usually takes a whole lot longer than the majority of business plans will project. Business projections that seem too good to be true in the first few years are probably just that. Even the best product ideas, greatest management and marketing won’t be enough if you run out of capital before you achieve sufficient momentum, exposure and market acceptance. You have to look at what is going to happen if the company has a bad first quarter, second quarter or even a bad first year. If a company is relying on cash flow to be generated in the beginning months and quarters, beware.

Management. If you are looking at a start-up company, the management of that company needs to be seasoned veterans, not first time entrepreneurs and their five closest friends. Yes. You need the visionaries, but you absolutely must also have long range planners, people who have started small and grown big, know the industry, react quickly to change, etc. To be successful, a new company will go through many stages such as introduction, market penetration, exponential growth, expansion, etc. A company can be mortally wounded if they are not equipped to handle each of those stages.

Marketing. Great ideas, innovative products and services die unrealized due to inadequate marketing. There are two marketing forces: the “push” and the “pull”. The lack of attention to the latter is where the ball most often drops. The “push” is the strategy that “pushes” the product through the marketing pipeline and gets the product out to the consumers. This creates exposure to the consumer. The “pull” is the piece that makes the consumer aware of their need for the product. It tells them what the product will do for them and entices them to “pull” the product out the other end of the pipeline. A company’s marketing plan must be able to evoke emotion in the end consumer. Emotion that is tied to a need or want that their business can fulfill. Otherwise, all the exposure, fancy packaging and “opportunity” appeal will be wasted.

People typically fall into two general categories. The optimist who wears rose colored glasses and the pessimist who wears dark shades. Both can see. However, you need to take those glasses off when looking at various network marketing or home-based business opportunities and compare them to a set of standards that will clue you in to the ones with real potential.

The last thing you have to do is be ready to act! Alfred North Whitehead, a British Philosopher, said, “Without adventure civilization is in full decay.” Take a look at where you are right now. Then, ask yourself where you will be in five years? Are you on your way to decay? Network marketing is not the network marketing of 15-20 years ago. Things have changed and it is a growing viable option for those who truly want to change their financial situation.

The trick is to find those home-based businesses and network marketing opportunities that have the capital, management; product and marketing plan to achieve sustainable success. If you are actively looking, and know what to look for, when opportunity knocks you won’t risk being out to lunch!

Helen Keller said, “It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.” Ask yourself a question. Do you know what an opportunity looks like? Describe it. Define it. Bottom line…would you know one if it bit you on the behind? Everyone says they are looking for “one”, Being at the right place at the right time isn’t enough. As network marketing industry legend Randy Gage says, “It’s about recognizing a magic moment of opportunity and acting upon it.”

In network marketing and home-based businesses, everyone says they have the “perfect opportunity.” So how do you evaluate? What is the difference between a golden opportunity and fool’s gold?

The scope of this article is to help you evaluate businesses, determine indicators of success and outline potential risks. I am a CPA, business owner and consultant. I look at businesses from top to bottom, start to finish. There are some fundamental characteristics that will tip you off to a good opportunity. A little homework and investigation can go a long way in helping you make a wise decision.

Nine out of ten business failures are due to lack of general business management skills and proper planning. Misery loves company and mistakes involving any of these three M’s will put you in the distinct company of the “nine” out of ten businesses that fail: Money, Management and Marketing.

>B>Money. It takes a long time for a start-up to become profitable. It usually takes a whole lot longer than the majority of business plans will project. Business projections that seem too good to be true in the first few years are probably just that. Even the best product ideas, greatest management and marketing won’t be enough if you run out of capital before you achieve sufficient momentum, exposure and market acceptance. You have to look at what is going to happen if the company has a bad first quarter, second quarter or even a bad first year. If a company is relying on cash flow to be generated in the beginning months and quarters, beware.

Management. If you are looking at a start-up company, the management of that company needs to be seasoned veterans, not first time entrepreneurs and their five closest friends. Yes. You need the visionaries, but you absolutely must also have long range planners, people who have started small and grown big, know the industry, react quickly to change, etc. To be successful, a new company will go through many stages such as introduction, market penetration, exponential growth, expansion, etc. A company can be mortally wounded if they are not equipped to handle each of those stages.

Marketing. Great ideas, innovative products and services die unrealized due to inadequate marketing. There are two marketing forces: the “push” and the “pull”. The lack of attention to the latter is where the ball most often drops. The “push” is the strategy that “pushes” the product through the marketing pipeline and gets the product out to the consumers. This creates exposure to the consumer. The “pull” is the piece that makes the consumer aware of their need for the product. It tells them what the product will do for them and entices them to “pull” the product out the other end of the pipeline. A company’s marketing plan must be able to evoke emotion in the end consumer. Emotion that is tied to a need or want that their business can fulfill. Otherwise, all the exposure, fancy packaging and “opportunity” appeal will be wasted.

People typically fall into two general categories. The optimist who wears rose colored glasses and the pessimist who wears dark shades. Both can see. However, you need to take those glasses off when looking at various network marketing or home-based business opportunities and compare them to a set of standards that will clue you in to the ones with real potential.

The last thing you have to do is be ready to act! Alfred North Whitehead, a British Philosopher, said, “Without adventure civilization is in full decay.” Take a look at where you are right now. Then, ask yourself where you will be in five years? Are you on your way to decay? Network marketing is not the network marketing of 15-20 years ago. Things have changed and it is a growing viable option for those who truly want to change their financial situation.

The trick is to find those home-based businesses and network marketing opportunities that have the capital, management; product and marketing plan to achieve sustainable success. If you are actively looking, and know what to look for, when opportunity knocks you won’t risk being out to lunch!

When opportunity knocks you should not be afraid to open the door. That is why the peepholes are so popular. Without being able to see what is on the other side of the door, too many times opportunities are available but they cannot be seen.

Numerous internet business opportunities present themselves every day and unless you can see the chance to become part of something special, you will constantly be on the lookout for a different opportunity that may have already passed you by.

With every opportunity that arises, there is someone willing to take a chance. If you are going to succeed in any business, and in life, you need to take calculated chances (or what some people call risks) to gain real rewards.

If you are not a person who can take a chance, then finding the right opportunity will never come your way, and you will find yourself looking and wishing but never doing.

The internet can be an exciting place in which to do business, but many of the internet business opportunities will involve taking risk.

Business people will tell you that success is an attitude. Others will say that success is a choice.

By having the right, positive attitude you can choose to make your business opportunity grow or you can choose to allow it to fail. However, the first choice you have to make is in taking advantage of the opportunity.

Henry Ford once said: If you think you can succeed, you can, if you think you can’t, you can’t. Either way, you are right. What he is saying is you control your destiny but your outlook.

Not all opportunities are readily identifiable. What may seem like a fleeting thought may actually be a fledgling idea that if nurtured and thought completely through will emerge into an opportunity for growth and success.

There are some online businesses offering people the chance to create their own business, following their model and business plan, which could be considered an opportunity. Robert Kiyosaki says that a business needs a strong system to succeed and with these kinds of opportunities a system is in place. If you follow it, you can replicate the success of others.

But, some folks are reluctant to take them up on the opportunity to own their own business based on their unwillingness to follow someone else’s direction.

Franchises are one of the internet business opportunities that people sometimes shy away from because they will not have complete control over the business. However, a franchise is based on a proven method of doing business and a successful business model. Without the need to re-invent the wheel, you can have a business up and running in short order, or you can go against the grain and attempt to start over from the beginning.

When you see what may be an opportunity, you should study it and do the proper research to make certain it is not one of the many scams online.

Once you have made the determination that the opportunity is genuine and you are willing to exert the energy and put in the time, then it is time to take advantage of the chance to see success.

Imagine where you would be today if the people from Microsoft, Apple or Dell Computers left the door closed to their opportunity. Not only did their lives change based on their actions, so has the lives of everyone with a computer.

Take a chance and start peeping through the security hole at the opportunities out there. You might find success is a mouse click away.

The night before her first day of high school, Sam stopped in his daughter’s bedroom to see how she was feeling. Sitting on the edge of her bed, Sam watched Sara set her clothes out for the next day.

“Ready for tomorrow?” He asked. Without looking up, Sara shrugged, “I guess.” Sensing how nervous she was, Sam assured her that the classes wouldn’t be too hard, but Sara cut him off.

“Dad,” she said, lifting her big, hazel eyes, “I’m afraid people won’t like me.”

Sam smiled, “Getting people to like you is easy. You just have to genuinely like them first.”

Sam explained to his daughter how easy it is to make friends when you don’t waste time worrying about getting in with the “right” crowd. She could have many friendships if she started off liking everybody, instead of limiting herself to those who were just like her.

Sam’s advice is more than just a way to survive high school; it is a great rule of thumb for the adult and business worlds. Too often businesspeople are so concerned with aligning themselves with the “right” group of people that they end up shutting more doors of opportunity than they open.

Every year, businesspeople spend thousands of dollars trying to get new customers and develop new ideas, yet they ignore or avoid conversations with people who may lead them to the solution. They would rather stay in their business clique until their ideas dry up and their network grows stagnant.

The same petty social rules that consume the high school world do not have to be present in the business world. Building your network of business contacts shouldn’t be a selfish scavenger hunt, so stop qualifying and categorizing everybody you meet. Put aside your personality differences and try to genuinely care about the other person and their interests.

Forget about building power teams, master alliances, and ideal referral partners. It’s not about finding people just like you or only making deals with those who can do something for you. Just focus on meeting people, making friendships, and opening up as many doors as you can.

Whether you sell copiers, advertising, or temporary staffing, the nuts and bolts of your business is in getting others to like you. Therefore, your biggest challenge is to get out into the community and become liked by as many people as you can.

Don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone to go to new places and have coffee with fresh faces. Forcing yourself to network and associate with new people allows you to hear new ideas and see new perspectives of your business. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll learn and the sizable network you will make.

Opportunities don’t knock on closed doors, including those that you, yourself, have closed. Now is the time to scan your mental Rolodex and reconsider opening doors you may have shut in the past. Don’t let what could be a profitable opened door close for insignificant reasons. Be the bigger person. Pick up the phone to schedule coffee with somebody who isn’t expecting your phone call. You have nothing to lose by enjoying coffee with a former customer, nagging salesperson, or even a competitor.

As you begin to know the people in your community well, you will become well-known. As you make the effort to genuinely like everybody in your community, you will become well-liked. When you know and like more people than your competition, more people will know and like you more than your competition.

See how many doors you can open by stepping out of your comfort zone and getting to meet as many fresh faces as you can. New people mean new ideas and a strong, profitable network of contacts. All you have to do to get them to like you is to genuinely like them first.

The Football Association (FA) Challenge Cup or the FA Cup, as it is known popularly, is the most prestigious and oldest domestic knock out tournament in world football. The format of the tournament has changed a bit since its was first contested during the year 1872. Every year, several teams from many leagues across England and Wales fight for FA Cup. The only requirement for participation in the tournament is the clubs need to be registered with the Association, playing in a well known league and having access to the stadium for home games. Teams are randomly paired for every round, and drawn games are replayed. Results of replay matches are ensured with penalty shootouts and extra-time.

August is the month when the preliminary rounds for the teams in lower leagues. Teams in English football’s higher flights automatically qualify for the next stages of the tournament, & mainly in the 3rd round are most often drawn against the lower-league-clubs. These encounters result in making the Cup odds a good collection for punters. Official competition’s rounds culminate in 2 semi-finals played at neutral-grounds to be followed by the popular FA Cup Final at Wembley during the end of May. Besides the coveted trophy & prize money of £1,000,000, the victors get automatic entry to the following UEFA cup.

Few who’ve been watching the stars of today competing in the Cup are familiar with its humble beginnings. During the 1872, merely 2000 spectators had watched the defeat of Royal Engineers. The Wanderers had defeated them by 1-0 at the Oval. In the new century, the Cup became the much talked about one among the people. Tens of thousands of football fans flocked to watch their football heroes do battle at Crystal Palace, Old Trafford and Stanford Bridge. By the 1950s, crowds of over 100,000 routinely attended the FA Cup Final at the Wembley Empire Stadium.

As English football’s top flight is becoming more competitive year after year, teams such as Everton and Manchester City offer great odds for the punters.