Generating new sales leads can be challenging, time consuming and frustrating — but it’s a critical element in growing a business. Believe me, I’ve been there and can sympathize with anyone who has ever had to build a list from scratch, make a cold call or contact someone they simply don’t know.

Some people really thrive on the excitement of aggressively securing a new lead, while others are uncomfortable with the pursuit. In either case, there’s no excuse — especially with all the information available on the Internet these days — for not performing even the most basic research before reaching out to a prospect.

A couple weeks ago, I received an unsolicited sales email. Personally, I prefer to receive a phone call first, but if an email does arrive in my Inbox, I would hope that the sender would at least make sure that it’s relevant to the recipient.

Read the rest…

Like millions of Americans, I exercised my civic duty and voted today. It was a breeze. No line at all and we were in and out in five minutes – literally. I even got my standard little “I Voted” sticker. In fact, I still have the last one from when I voted in the Virginia Primary. I put it on the dashboard in my car and for some reason, just left it there. However, today that sticker is actually worth something.

At the end of my last post I pointed out that voters can take advantage of tons of free stuff today, November 4th, after voting. Using the election season to promote your brand is pretty smart marketing. For example, Starbucks is giving away free cups of tall coffee. So, I stopped by and it was quite crowded. I overheard one woman say, “I love the fact that everyone has their stickers on today.”

Read the rest…