I don’t want to cold call

“I don’t want to cold call.” That was the response someone gave yesterday to why they want a newsletter. Hey – I’m with you on that one! Cold calling is horrible. And in the vast majority of cases (but not all), it’s a poor use of your time. Cold calling positions you as desperate. It automatically gives the other person the…

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The curious article that generated a ton of calls

I heard it said the other day that half of Rush Limbaugh’s listeners are people who hate him. But those haters just can’t help tuning in to hear what he has to rant about next. After all, you can’t claim the guy is bland. Now, I’m not suggesting you become some kind of newsletter shock jock. But…it’s fair to…

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You and Old MacFuggle’s

Have you noticed how craft beers are such a “thing” these days? Even up here in my tiny part of the world, we have two micro-breweries starting up. I’m not complaining, of course – I could enjoy a pint of Old MacFuggle’s any night of the week. Sometimes it seems like the business world is splitting into two:…

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One newsletter, two listing appointments

We’ve just started our annual client survey here at Ready to Go Newsletters. It’s something I’d recommend any business do. You get insights into what is going right (and wrong), and you find out what your clients really want from you. A survey can also be a great source of testimonials, like the one that…

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Olive oil, newsletters and the real you

All is not well in the world of olive oil. It turns out, at least according to producers in California, that the extra virgin oil we import from Europe isn’t always so pure after all. Extra rancid, not extra virgin – so they say. Of course, Californian producers have a horse in this race. They want us to…

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It’s not a chore if you love it

Once-upon-a-September, a couple of years ago, I decided to love stacking firewood. I think I had no choice. The pile of logs – as big as a school bus – had to be taken under cover before the rain made them all soggy. And someone had to do it. So in a rare moment of psychological insight, I decided…

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It’s all about relationships

Now that I have reached the grand old age of 42 (yes, I’m so old/so young – take your pick), one thing has become clear. It’s relationships that count. Relationships with people. You can take away lots of things, but don’t take away the relationships with people I care about. The same thing is true in business, of course. It’s…

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Love is done

It’s Valentine’s week, and I am reminded of the best bit of advice about relationships I ever heard. It was this: Love is done. In other words… You can say “I love you” until you are blue in the face, but unless you actually do the things that matter, it means nothing. So how does this apply to the relationships…

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The bizarre story of a snoozing burglar

Did you hear about the burglar who fell asleep on his victim’s couch? And meanwhile, the victim’s roommate was sitting next to him…watching TV. He thought the burglar was the guy’s friend. They only figured it out when the victim came back home and discovered his cellphone was missing. And so was the “friend”. Bizarre story. I’m telling it to…

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When they zig, you zag

I just got back from the grocery store I love to hate. Imagine a shop were the aisles are just two feet wide, where the containers of blueberries are piled so high that a sneeze topples them, and where the line to the deli is three bodies thick…and no-one will tell you where it begins or…

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Like footprints in the sand

One of my favorite things to do is walk along the beach. But not just any part of the beach. I like the region where the ocean meets the land. It’s where everything happens. The fuzzy borders between natural habitats are called ecotones, and the seepage of ocean into sand is the daddy of them all. The seaside is a…

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The Justin Bieber newsletter theory

A few years ago at a party I met someone who wrote songs for Justin Bieber. “I composed that one in the shower,” he said. I guess I didn’t show enough “awesome”. (Instead I was more “whatever.”  More “meh.”) So the guy ignored me for the rest of the party. Which was fine. As a 40-something man, I wouldn’t know…

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Chipmunks, thieves and customer nuts

The other day I watched a TV show about woodland creatures. One of the stars of the show was the humble chipmunk. Now…you know that chipmunks have a thing for nuts. Crazy about them, they are. Cheeks stuffed like carry-on baggage on a plane. The whole nut fetish isn’t because the chipmunk is greedy; it’s because having enough nuts is…

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Why she just had to call

The phone rang the other day and on the other end was a business owner. She was not a client of ours. This person had been in business for many years, and every month she was putting together her own newsletter. It included all sorts of articles – some of them about what she does, but…

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Why clients are like frozen noses

It was 20 degrees below zero when I left home the other morning. That was after a sleepless few hours – the house had been making cracking sounds all night as the timbers contracted. My poor old car started with a “do I have to?” wheeze. It took 15 minutes idling before it would even consider hauling…

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