Answers to Your Marketing Questions
By Bonnie J. Longbotham
As published in the December 2002 Edition of The Northeast PA Business Journal
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Do you have big goals for 2003? Feeling a little overwhelmed? Why not start off with something small? If your phone number has a 570 area code, make sure – once and for all – that the old 717 code doesn’t appear on your materials. Check your logo…it should be crisp and clear everywhere. If you don’t have a clean copy of your logo, ask a graphic artist to redraw (not scan – but digitally recreate) your logo as a vector file. This file can be blown up to the size of a billboard and still look pefect! Add a distinctive signature block or splash of color to your email. Call your own company. Make sure that the person answering the phones is cheerful and polite. Navigate your firm’s phone system to be sure that callers can’t fall victim to voicemail runaround. Vow to review and empty voicemail and email regularly – you don’t want to miss anything! Is there a waiting room in your office? Go sit in it yourself! Is it comfy? Magazines clean and up-to-date? Enough hangers on the coat rack? If the wait tends to be long, perhaps a coffee or water station would be welcome. Bottom line – would you want to wait in this room? Take a lesson from Grandma and remember …there’s just no substitute for a timely, beautifully handwritten thank you note. Clean out your storage area. There are many local non-profits that would welcome your cast-offs. Dig out stuff like that old trade show booth, random chairs, framed prints that just don’t “go” in your office, the file cabinet with the scratch, etc. Toss the junk and donate the rest. Happy New Year!