Author: Dave J.

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Postcard decks redux

I’ve written about postcard deck advertising before. Attracted the attention of a fellow launching a new product who asked me to recommend some decks. My market is different than his, but I did write this back to him.

But some advice I will give you is that it is best to pick card decks associated with a trade publication if at all possible. They have certified their circulation list via a BPA audit. There are a lot of secondary card decks out there using less credible, but maybe viable, lists. One I get mailings from is www.venturedirect.com. They seem large enough to be trustworthy.



Since my post last year, I’ve become even less likely to run card decks. They are good for getting attention, but less valuable for brand building. Plus my marketing interests are shifting. One thing I will tell you to not expect many cards to actually be returned. Most that are will be from prisoners.



I expect that the card deck is a dying breed anyway. Two publications I know of are sending emails instead of, or in conjunction with their snail-mailing. To that end, you might consider sponsoring a third-party newsletter, perhaps for an online site, or a trade publication. Then it becomes branding.

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Scam busted!

Blogging sometimes seems hardly worth it if you count by page views, but the number of people I’ve talked to along the way has made it enjoyable.

I received an email from the Canadian Competition Bureau, who investigates deceptive telemarketing. They were responding to my posting dated October 01/2002 about receiving phone calls from ecommerceregister.com.

Turns out they have filed charges against this company for deceptive telemarketing, among other things. Turns out there was a relationship with Hanson Publications, who used to keep calling wanting to “renew my directory listing”.

If you’ve been contacted by ecommerceregister, I’m sure the Canadian Competition Bureau would love to hear from you. Email me and I will get you in touch with the right people.

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Making a better ad

Based on this survey, one could create a “don’t do this” list for b2b advertising. I’m working on a new ad that probably breaks about half of these. The other half I’m probably breaking but don’t realize it!

Mobium Survey The results are in. Here’s how people responded to Mobium’s question, “What’s wrong with business-to-business communications?”

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The limitation of the Internet for engineers

“A search engine can locate specific information you are looking for, but it can’t provide information that you didn’t know you might need.”

The editor of a trade magazine makes the argument that publications and trade shows have value by bringing learning and interaction that move technology forward. I’d add that salespeople are still part of that mix. What he has done is acknowledge that print/shows/sales needs to realize that they are not just about product data, but education and collaboration.


Test & Measurement World Online

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How early 90s!

I just got a 19 page fax. And not one I requested either. It is a survey for “buyers guide” for a trade publication I have only passing interest in. Pages 4 to 18 is a list of products that I’m supposed to go thru and check which ones we offer. Most are just different chemical compounds which I don’t even offer. Then I suppose they want me to fax back all 19 pages?? And someone there is supposed to read the 8 point type that’s been faxed twice?

I know it can be hard to get support to apply technology for a project, but it is painful getting the fax. I can only imagine what the coordinator of this project will feel when she gets hundreds of these back.

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An interesting read

Mark Joyner is someone I’ve been interested in, but maybe a little sceptical of, too. He is a great copy-writer, and here is a good one to read. You’ll learn more about cloned babies and marketing at the same time!

MindControlMarketing.Com Letters

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Goldmine demo

We had the local “platinum” reseller for Goldmine in yesterday to discuss our needs and demo the software. An overall positive experience. He will set me up with a “thin-client” so I can test out the software on his server–pretty nice!

He made me realize that I haven’t got an official response from SalesLogix yet. Its getting to be a while. I’m a forgiving person, but if you are selling sales tools, I expect first-class service. So far, SaleLogix has a hole to dig out of.

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Another survey???

What is it with CRM people and forms? And forms that don’t link into their own CRM software, no less. I got another one today from the Goldmine dealer I mentioned in the previous post. Apparently Goldmine did let them know to contact me, so the felf compelled to send me their own form. There weren’t many questions, but why do they need to be asked, and in this manner? Having trouble starting a conversation? The other Goldmine/Saleslogix guy I talked to asked similar questions. Here are today’s two questions:

Your three biggest sales and marketing pains (e.g. qualify leads faster, obtain more new leads, provide timely inquiry response, nurture current leads/relationships, reduce time to prepare quotes, forecast sales better, improve team selling processes, analyze our markets and territories, develop a practical marketing plan, etc.).

Does our closure rate on trade show leads exceed our market share percentage?

What is our closure rate on proposals to qualified prospects?

Our customer retention rate is?

What are the first questions you want to ask your customer? How do you want them asked? What impression do you want to make? Should I trust CRM “consultants” who don’t ask themselves these questions?