Thank You Notes Are Not Only a Courtesy, They Can Lead to New Business

November 30, 2009

Today’s guest columnist, Andrea Nierenberg, discusses the importance of the personal note in business. This often-overlooked practice can make you stand out from the competition and nurture important business relationships at a time when electronic communication has become ubiquitous. The article is adapted from her monthly newsletter.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to stay in touch is with the power of the personal note with a “thank you” to a business associate. In research I’ve conducted, I ask the question, “How many of you send out personal notes?” I also ask, “How many of you receive personal notes or cards from clients or business associates?” The response indicates that few people take this practice seriously. As a follow up, I ask, “Has anyone received notes of appreciation, and how does that make you feel?” I trust you know the answer to this last question.

Here are eight opportunities to send a “thank you,” and when and how to do it effectively: Read more

CEO as Chief Communications Officer

May 14, 2009

The CEO has a great opportunity to become the company’s Chief Communications Officer.  This isn’t in addition to his or her regular duties.  This is the essence of the CEO’s job. Read more

That Sound You Hear is the Crash of Advertising

May 2, 2009

I remember the days when ad people looked down at PR types.  They had the big bucks budgets while the PR people toiled away on the leftovers writing press releases, arranging company events and the like.

Advertising sells!  Well, maybe not so much anymore.  Even the American Association of Advertising Agencies acknowledges the new power of public relations.  At its recent annual meeting, the group rebranded itself the 4A’s, for one reason because so many of their agencies are discovering that PR pays. Read more

• Try Different — Seth Godin

  The usual mantra is to 'try harder'. Trying harder is impossible when you're already trying as hard as you can.

  But you can always try different.

  Years ago, I was creating trivia questions for a product we built for Prodigy. We had a 99% accuracy rate in doing the questions. Which was great, except there were 1800 questions in a batch, which meant 18 wrong each time, which was totally and completely unacceptable. These were honest mistakes, made by smart people working as hard as they could.

  No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't do better than 99%. So we switched our system completely and did it in a totally different way. Same number of people, same number of hours, 100% accuracy.

  If it's not working, harder might not be the answer.

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