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	<title>Marketing and Business Plan Blog</title>
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		<title>Site of the Month for November 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/site-of-the-month-for-november-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/site-of-the-month-for-november-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:07:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/?p=42</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Site of the Month for November 2011 relates to Marketing Directory. MkDat contains information and resources on direct marketing, email marketing, business service, dm service, marketing relationship, mailing and fulfilment, contact centrer, call centrer, promotional gifts and more.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.mkdat.com/"><img src="http://www.mkdat.com/images/logotext.gif" alt="Marketing Directory" class="aligncenter"/></a><br />
Site of the Month for November 2011 relates to <a href="http://www.mkdat.com/">Marketing Directory</a>. MkDat contains information and resources on direct marketing, email marketing, business service, dm service, marketing relationship, mailing and fulfilment, contact centrer, call centrer, promotional gifts and more.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What is A/B Split Testing and &#8220;Multivariable&#8221; Testing?</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/what-is-ab-split-testing-and-multivariable-testing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/what-is-ab-split-testing-and-multivariable-testing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:04:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[A/B Split Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariable Testing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/?p=40</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;A/B Split Testing and Multivariable Testing is the process of testing and improving components of your web pages (such as your headlines, offers, words, images and buttons) to see if it increases or decreases the performance or responsiveness. This process is used to answer your important questions such as: * Which headline generates the best [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;A/B Split Testing and Multivariable Testing is the process of testing and improving components of your web pages (such as your headlines, offers, words, images and buttons) to see if it increases or decreases the performance or responsiveness.</p>
<p>This process is used to answer your important questions such as:</p>
<p>    * Which headline generates the best response?<br />
    * What words work best for your offer copy and order buttons?<br />
    * What is the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing campaigns?<br />
    * And more.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<p>    * A simple headline change can produce a 1,900% increase in income;<br />
    * Colors of your background could boost your sales by up to 30%;<br />
    * Adding audio to your order page could increase your sales by 437%;<br />
    * Changing the wording on your order buttons could boost sales by 319%.</p>
<p>In fact, the most successful companies test everything. For example, www.GoToMyPC.com increased their conversion rates by 400% by testing over 15 elements of their web pages.&#8221;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>3 Things You Have to Do to Start Promoting Affiliate Products</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/3-things-you-have-to-do-to-start-promoting-affiliate-products/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/3-things-you-have-to-do-to-start-promoting-affiliate-products/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Jun 2011 04:09:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Affiliate Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Affiliate Revenue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Businesses Online]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/?p=37</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the biggest advantages of the affiliate marketing business is that you will be able to start your own internet business without your own product. If you are still new to this business, you must ensure that you are doing the correct thing so that you will be able to start the business on [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the biggest advantages of the affiliate marketing business is that you will be able to start your own internet business without your own product. If you are still new to this business, you must ensure that you are doing the correct thing so that you will be able to start the business on the right note. So what are the things that you have to do to start promoting the products that you have chosen?</p>
<p>The 1st thing that you must do is to join the affiliate program by filling up the form. You have to make sure that the information that you give in the form is accurate as most affiliate networks will send the commission cheque to the address that you have put in the form. There are some networks that will want you to put in your website link but it is not necessary to fill that portion most of the time. Check with the network on the important information that you have to provide for them.</p>
<p>The 2nd thing that you must do is to create your own affiliate link and check that it is correct. Most of the affiliate network uses the cookie technology where it will identify you as the referral so that you will be paid the commission if the customers purchased the product through your link. You will want to manually to the checking to make sure that it goes to the right website. You must also click on the payment link and check whether you are able to see your affiliate ID which will be either at the bottom or on top of the page. This step is very important as this ensures that you will be credited with the commission.</p>
<p>The 3rd thing that you must do is to have your own website where you can collect subscribers. Most of the profits that you get will be from the following up with the customers through email. The majority of your referrals will not purchase the product when they see it for the first time. This is the main reason why you will want to get their details so that you will have the opportunity to follow up with them. Provide them with good values like good content and recommend them some good paid resources. When you have built a good relationship with them, they will trust you more and will be more willing to purchase the product from you.</p>
<p>Here are the 3 things that you will want to do before you even start promoting the affiliate product that you have chosen. Do ensure that you have done these 3 things as it will ensures that you are starting the business correctly right from the 1st day you operate the business.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Site of the Month for June 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/site-of-the-month-for-june-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/site-of-the-month-for-june-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:14:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/?p=35</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Site of the Month for June 2011 is about Marketing Service. Directory Advertise covers relevant websites to online advertising &#038; marketing, advertising agencies, media, promotional items, public relations, advertising consulting, indoor advertising &#038; outdoor advertising.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.directoryadvertise.com/"><img src="http://www.directoryadvertise.com/images/logos.gif" alt="Advertising Directory" class="aligncenter"/></a><br />
Site of the Month for June 2011 is about <a href="http://www.directoryadvertise.com/">Marketing Service</a>. Directory Advertise covers relevant websites to online advertising &#038; marketing, advertising agencies, media, promotional items, public relations, advertising consulting, indoor advertising &#038; outdoor advertising.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>How to Choose The Best Telemarketing Company ?</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/how-to-choose-the-best-telemarketing-company/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/how-to-choose-the-best-telemarketing-company/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 14 May 2011 05:56:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Telemarketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Telemarketing Company]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/?p=32</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are several types of telemarketing service providers. If we set aside independent telemarketers, a telemarketing firm could be any one thing from a small business operation with a few employees to an international call center operation. Deciding which type of telemarketing firm suits your business depends on a number of aspects. First is the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There are several types of telemarketing service providers. If we set aside independent telemarketers, a telemarketing firm could be any one thing from a small business operation with a few employees to an international call center operation.</p>
<p>Deciding which type of telemarketing firm suits your business depends on a number of aspects. First is the size of your campaign; your target industry or prospects; and the intricacy of your proposition.</p>
<p>Let us analyze each aspect and find out how they will influence your hiring decision.</p>
<p>Size of your campaign. First and foremost, you need to consider the scope of your telemarketing project. How big is your prospecting database? Do you have more than a hundred prospects or more than a hundred thousand? Large telemarketing firms will best suit extensive calling campaigns. They can provide a large number of telemarketers to work on each campaign. In addition, they have the modern telephone systems like auto-dialers or predictive dialers to enhance efficiency in running huge cold-calling projects.</p>
<p>The opposite is true when it comes to their capability to manage small projects. A big telemarketing agency is not designed to take on campaigns with less than a few thousand prospects. Large-scale teleservices providers need large campaigns because they need to set up telephone and computer systems as well as provide training to their telemarketers. Smaller telemarketing agencies are ideal for small-scale calling campaigns because these projects require only a small telemarketing team to work on them.</p>
<p>Your target industries or prospects. Just like the scale of your campaign, you also need to think about your target audience. Would you like to focus on consumers or individuals, SME executives, or high-level decision makers of large business enterprises? What about verticals or industries? Commonly, large outbound call centers cater to business-to-consumer calling projects while smaller telemarketing firms are more likely to specialize in a particular industry or business sector. This is usually the case because they have less employee turn-over rate compared to bigger outbound call centers. Telemarketers from these smaller agencies will build up skills in calling a particular industry or sector. It is important to match the prospect type and industry with the appropriate telemarketing firm to ensure that you are hiring the right agency.</p>
<p>The intricacy of your proposition. In selecting the right telemarketing service provider, it is essential to consider how much they suit your entire proposition. Generally, larger telemarketing companies will depend on having their calling agents use a scripted sales pitch. For intricate propositions, where there is a level of technical know-how required, this can be a critical path to take. Once a prospect starts to ask questions and steer the telemarketer to a different direction, the agent will likely struggle and the company being represented will lose positioning from the prospect&#8217;s viewpoint.</p>
<p>Due to the low employee turn-over rate which smaller telemarketing companies have, they are able to maintain stronger and more experienced telemarketing teams. Their agents have well-developed telephone selling skills and industry expertise that they can depend on for more efficient sales pitches that do not seem too rehearsed.</p>
<p>Clients are also likely to build affinity with the same group of people with smaller telemarketing firms. This gets the telemarketing teams more acquainted with your proposition in the long run. With larger telemarketing companies, you are likely to have different agents working on your campaign quite frequently because of higher attrition rates. This what makes a smaller telemarketing firm more suitable to manage a complicated proposition.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Telemarketing: The Best Tool for Your Business</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/telemarketing-the-best-tool-for-your-business/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/telemarketing-the-best-tool-for-your-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 03:14:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Telemarketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Telemarketers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/?p=29</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Telemarketing is the tool you need to get your business going. Tried and tested over the decades, this technique is certified to be the best when it comes to getting B2B leads and opening up new markets for the firm. Professional telemarketers are the best when it comes to meeting people on the phone, and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Telemarketing is the tool you need to get your business going. Tried and tested over the decades, this technique is certified to be the best when it comes to getting B2B leads and opening up new markets for the firm. Professional telemarketers are the best when it comes to meeting people on the phone, and they are at the front-lines when trying to get a job done. This has been taken advantage of by many firms, and this quality of telemarketing is what makes it the best for business.</p>
<p>It can be helped if everyone is still recovering from the dismal performance of the world financial market. Firms these days are still looking for ways to improve their position in the markets they belong to. For this, telemarketing becomes an excellent tool. Telemarketers are the top choice for talking to prospective customers and convincing them that they will need what the sellers are offering on the phone. But that&#8217;s not all they can do, since telemarketing is also employed for surveys, interviews, and even coordination for events. They are also the first people that can answer the comments, inquiries and complaints of the people they speak with on the phone.</p>
<p>And there&#8217;s the fact the world I still one huge market. People are still willing to spend, considering that things are getting better now. Businesses are more than willing to tap into this latest trend. The only snag that can be obviously seen is informing people that you, the business owner, have what they need and is selling them that. This is an issue of product awareness that plays the main part n the entire telemarketing campaign. It&#8217;s just a good thing that telemarketing is around to take care of that.</p>
<p>But really, how does this tactic work? After all, telemarketing is a pretty old marketing strategy by many standards, so it&#8217;s a bit hard to understand its charm. Well, to start with, we must see telemarketing more as a strategy to get the job done, in a very different way. It&#8217;s not like TV or radio that advertises their wares to everyone, regardless whether they actually need that or not.This common advertising medium simply hinges on the hope that someone from the wide audience will respond to the promotion. Telemarketing is more on a target audience. They choose the people and businesses they want to contact, and prepare well for the first encounter. This level of planning is also what makes B2B telemarketing a prime choice for many firms for their B2B leads. This strategy is actually perfect for finding other firms to do business with.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Telemarketing Is Not Telesales</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/telemarketing-is-not-telesales/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/telemarketing-is-not-telesales/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:14:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tina Young</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Telemarketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Professional Job]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Telesales]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/?p=27</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Phone and Telesales, although two separate entities are, quite often confused. While Telemarketing and Telesales each requires a different set of skills and qualities, they also have much in common, and very often can be linked in many ways. Basically Telemarketing services are used to improve product awareness, and generate interest in a product or [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Phone and Telesales, although two separate entities are, quite often confused. While Telemarketing and Telesales each requires a different set of skills and qualities, they also have much in common, and very often can be linked in many ways. Basically Telemarketing services are used to improve product awareness, and generate interest in a product or service. Telesales, on the other hand, is used to sell a specific product or service.</p>
<p>Telemarketing as a service, can include many different aspects; from appointment and lead generation, to a simple and professional company, product, or service introduction. Telemarketing is best used to raise company profiles and generate interest in a product or service. Very often the results from a good telemarketing campaign can create lots of valuable sales opportunities.</p>
<p>Telesales is a service which is a direct sale of a product or service, where as the telemarketer will make the appointment the Telesales team will then follow up and close the sale. Telemarketing requires a great good level of people skills, and a very good, experienced Telemarketer will be able to drive a campaign in a confident, perseverance, and professional manner without sounding sales oriented.</p>
<p>The main function of a Telemarketer is to build up a solid relationship with the client, and providing that the foundations have been built correctly by the telemarketing team, they can prove to be priceless to the sales team. Very often Telemarketing and Telesales are conducted by the same company, which in most cases proves to be very successful. All of the administration and communication is completed in house which makes for a very tidy and professional job.</p>
<p>Any campaign targeted sales promotion will benefit from the skills of the telemarketing or Telesales professionals, and both lines often leads to a record company to expand, and the greater profit of the company&#8217;s expansion. Usually the first representative of a company, it is important that you select the correct phone users to represent your company the way you want, and we all know that first impressions and confidence of customers is the best platform for partnership long-term business.</p>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>How to Make Money Advertising With Affiliate Marketing</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/how-to-make-money-advertising-with-affiliate-marketing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/how-to-make-money-advertising-with-affiliate-marketing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:59:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Affiliate Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Make Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/?p=24</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money advertising. This money making venture requires you to send individuals to a particular site where they can buy products or even sign up for certain items. You get a commission for every individual who visits the site. There are various programs on the internet [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money advertising. This money making venture requires you to send individuals to a particular site where they can buy products or even sign up for certain items. You get a commission for every individual who visits the site. There are various programs on the internet and it is quite easy to join them. Before you join any of them, it is important to read the conditions and terms carefully.</p>
<p>There is no specific method to help you make money therefore you should select something that you are interested in. Focus on a particular niche if you want to make money and come up with a site around the theme. The affiliate programs that you choose should fit with the particular theme you selected for your site. Blend the site and affiliate program in order to attract a lot of visitors.</p>
<p>It is important to provide people with first-hand information. This makes it easy for you to be an authority and credible source. It is easier to get more leads and sales when your traffic is targeted. It is good to choose something that you are passionate about so that you can enjoy running the business. It will be more of a hobby instead of a job.</p>
<p>To make money advertising from affiliate marketing jobs, it is important to choose who your target is going to be. Determine the people you are going to target with the marketing. After you have determined your audience, you can go ahead and choose the product. Be specific when choosing your target audience. Choose people who have a particular problem or interest. Once you have your audience find out the most effective way of getting to them.</p>
<p>Apart from choosing a subject that you are passionate about, you also need to select a topic that is hot at the moment. There are various options to choose from when you want a theme for your site. You also need to be an authority in the particular theme that you select. People will visit your site more often if they know that you have something valuable to offer.</p>
<p>To make money advertising, you should market products that are in demand. Sell products that people are interested in. Most people use the internet when they are looking for information and this makes information products a good option when you want to get into affiliate marketing. Digital products can give you a lot of rewards. Most people look for bargains therefore you can try a site that offers discounts for products.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Telemarketing &#8211; Where Do You Go From Here?</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/telemarketing-where-do-you-go-from-here/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/telemarketing-where-do-you-go-from-here/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Sep 2010 03:51:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kathy Austin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Telemarketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sales Teleselling]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/?p=19</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Now that you&#8217;ve made the smart choice and you&#8217;ve finally decided to migrate your sales and marketing efforts to Telemarketing, there&#8217;s definitely nowhere else to go but up. Of course, the time it will take for your company to get there will depend entirely on how you approach this matter and how efficiently you maximize [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Now that you&#8217;ve made the smart choice and you&#8217;ve finally decided to migrate your sales and marketing efforts to Telemarketing, there&#8217;s definitely nowhere else to go but up. Of course, the time it will take for your company to get there will depend entirely on how you approach this matter and how efficiently you maximize the most out of your telemarketing efforts.</p>
<p>Will you do it in-house or will you outsource? If security is an issue for your company and you&#8217;re quite convinced not one of the many telemarketing call centers out there can assure you of your company&#8217;s data security or you think that you can give your company that unique advantage because it&#8217;s one of your company&#8217;s core competencies, you&#8217;d probably do your telemarketing campaign in-house. Naturally, there will be additional costs but if your company doesn&#8217;t mind shelling out more, then, it&#8217;s all good. A company who chooses to do it in-house must:</p>
<p>- Hire qualified employees<br />
- Train the employee<br />
- Pay employee wages and benefits<br />
- Provide the employees their own workstations<br />
- Provide the technology needed like a computer, software and hardware, phone, Internet access, copier, fax machine, etc.<br />
- Pay for telecommunications costs<br />
-<br />
Often times the company opting for the in-house approach incurs additional expenses on top of the existing one for certain events force majeure such as:</p>
<p>- Scheduled vacations<br />
- Unscheduled absences<br />
- Unscheduled sick days<br />
- Unscheduled Family leave<br />
- Maternity leave<br />
- Amazingly with outsourcing, the company must only:</p>
<p>- Locate a reliable and high-quality vendor<br />
- Pay the vendor for the services provided</p>
<p>Looking at the reasons listed above, it seems obvious why majority of companies switching over their sales and marketing to telemarketing, choose outsourcing as the most practical and cost-effective solution to increasing their profit. Management can focus more on resolving core issues without distractions because their outsourced services are being taken care of by the telemarketing side.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s important to know and understand that telemarketing is not the be-all end-all of sales strategies. Instead, it&#8217;s just one method of performing the sales process. Just like other tried and tested sales method, success in closing a sale over the phone is dependent on finding qualified prospects to call.</p>
<p>But let&#8217;s be clear, not all telemarketing programs are successful. Some fail due to improper handling and execution, unrealistic goals on a short time frame, oversimplifying important concerns, and lack of top management support. These reasons just to name a few have caused good telemarketing campaigns to fail just like that. Like any marketing strategy, telemarketing takes careful, well thought planning and development. It needs nurturing. It takes time to gain confidence in the process, identify areas for improvements, and to predict results.</p>
<p>Some of the most common mistakes telemarketing companies make:</p>
<p>- Telemarketing wasn&#8217;t even considered as an option<br />
- The lack or absence of total commitment<br />
- Failing to develop a proper database and lead generation<br />
- Improper human resource planning and allocation<br />
- Not having proper scripts and call guides<br />
- Lack of quality control</p>
<p>Identifying the most common reasons why telemarketing companies fail and learning from them should be a good start for you and your company. Hopefully, we&#8217;ve also established that outsourcing your sales and marketing endeavors is the only choice if success is to be guaranteed. These should put you a little closer to being a mature, marketable and profitable company. Be a step ahead of the competition, in a manner of speaking. Now that you know all these, it&#8217;s time to act, sit back, relax and let the gears of telemarketing turn and work to your advantage.</p>
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		<title>Finding the Right Marketing Services Provider for Your Business</title>
		<link>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/finding-the-right-marketing-services-provider-for-your-business/</link>
		<comments>http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/finding-the-right-marketing-services-provider-for-your-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:28:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomson Thomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UK List Brokers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.portmarketing.com/blog/finding-the-right-marketing-services-provider-for-your-business/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re a small business owner, medium-sized business, or marketing professional who realizes that you can&#8217;t be an expert in everything, then finding a Marketing Services Provider to meet your growing needs is essential. But how can you tell who will deliver for your business and who will not? There are a few things to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you&#8217;re a small business owner, medium-sized business, or marketing professional who realizes that you can&#8217;t be an expert in everything, then finding a <a href="http://www.marketsimplicity.co.uk">Marketing Services Provider</a> to meet your growing needs is essential. But how can you tell who will deliver for your business and who will not? There are a few things to look for before choosing the right Marketing Services provider who cares as much about your business as you do.</p>
<p>1. Screening Questions. Depending on what type of marketing service provider you&#8217;re looking for, take time to organize some basic questions that will help you evaluate whether or note the marketing service provider can meet your needs. You should customize these questions based on your specific marketing needs. </p>
<p>Getting answers to these very basic questions will give you&#8217;re a firm expectation of time, expense, and proposed outcomes. If they are not what you&#8217;re looking for, you can always negotiate, but keep in mind that the first answers given are usually closest to what you can expect. Don&#8217;t settle. Keep asking these questions as many times as you need to. Eventually you will find the right vendor who answers these questions to your satisfaction.</p>
<p>2. References. The only legitimate way to know whether or not a service provider has a solid reputation is to call references provided. Often times, individuals ask a vendor for references and never receive them. Even worse is the buyer who receives a list of references and never calls or speaks to them. Don&#8217;t feel awkward calling a vendor&#8217;s references. These individuals have agreed to be contacted by future clients. If a vendor is unable to give you a list of references, then you must question why no one is willing to vouch for the vendor&#8217;s previous work. Finding satisfied clients is one of the most important cues to selecting a vendor that you&#8217;ll be satisfied with.</p>
<p>3. Shop Around. Be sure to acquire at least three quotes (one each from 3 separate vendors) before making a final selection. You&#8217;ll be surprised how much money you can save by getting multiple quotes for the same project. Even if you prefer a certain vendor over another, multiple quotes allow you to negotiate and make sure that each vendor is offering the same type of service. If prices vary greatly, ask your vendors why their pricing is so much higher &#8211; what are they including that the others aren&#8217;t?</p>
<p>4. Ask for a Detailed Project Outline. It&#8217;s very easy for projects to get started and quickly become sidetracked. Before beginning any project, make sure that your vendor provides you with a detailed outline of project dates and deliverables. This will not only set your expectations correctly, it will also detail what&#8217;s included in the proposed work. Ask your vendor, what happens if he/she misses a deliverable? How often do they complete their projects on time? The point here is to communicate with your marketing services vendor that you have expectations that must be met. This will allow for better project management throughout your marketing services engagement and ensure that all deliverables are achieved on or close to target.</p>
<p>5. Provide Partial Payment. Most marketing service vendors ask for part of the project payment up front. They realize that the fees you pay are partially based on satisfaction and completion of the work. If your marketing service vendor asks for the whole fee up front, tell the vendor that you will only agree to structured payments. This ensures project completion and gives you ability to manage deliverables throughout the project timeline.</p>
<p>At <a href="http://www.marketsimplicity.co.uk">Market Simplicity</a>, they understand the importance that an effective and directional marketing campaign, in order to reach your target market and gain new business begins with a tailored data solution. They understand that all customers have different needs and they strive to provide an entirely personal and tailored service and solutions to ensure the response rates for your next campaign exceed all expectations. Market Simplicity provide b2b and b2c mailing lists for direct mail, telemarketing, fax broadcasting and email marketing campaigns. They are a leading provider of high volume, quality data, and specialise in bespoke digital marketing tools with over 1.6 million businesses and 800,000 email addresses. Contact them today and tell them about your next marketing campaign. </p>
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