DCMG.com has been active for over 11 years, specializing in providing high quality direct marketing lists at affordable prices. The company’s main focus is to help their clients grow their business and make more money. They offer lists of all types, including direct mail, business, residential, telemarketing, consumer lists, and more. As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, so the best way to know the quality of DCMG’s lists is to give them a try.

Direct marketing is not dead, and will probably never die. Direct mail lists can still be a great way to find and acquire new customers.

According to Maui Pineapple Company’s blog, PineappleNews.com, the wager was between the cities of Honolulu and Athens-Clarke, the home cities of the two teams playing in the 2008 Sugar Bowl, the University of Hawaii and the University of Georgia. If Hawaii lost, they would have to send Hawaiian pineapples to Athens-Clarke, and if Georgia lost, they would have to send Georgia peaches to Honolulu. If you remember, Georgia won 42-10, so Honolulu had to come up with the goods. To help settle the bet, Maui Pineapple Company rose to the occasion and donated a dozen Maui Gold® pineapples to the cause.

It sounds like such a simple thing to do—donate a dozen pineapples—which it is, and as a result, Maui Pineapple Company received major national and local news exposure, helping to promote the brand and most likely increase sales. I commend the creative thinking by the Maui Pineapple Company marketing team—a lot of media exposure gained for a relatively tiny expenditure. There were news articles written and even TV news story coverage of the delivery of the pineapples.

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It has to do with "first impressions".  As sales people, you work hard to create good first impressions for your future customers (and even your current ones).  But in the long term, Seth asks, isn't it better to worry about the last impression you leave?  Here are his thoughts:

"Marketers (and high school kids) focus a lot on the first date. After all, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

I recently had some waterproofing done in the basement. The first date was great. The company was professional and had every single element down, from their AdWords to the web site to the way they interacted on the phone and in person.

I think that stuff is pretty important, but I'm way more interested in the last interaction than I am in the first (and if you care about word of mouth, you should be too).

After they finished the job, they left my basement a mess.

Forever, my only memory of the job is going to be...

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Is this significant to companies who sell via catalogs sent through the mail to people's home?  Will it effect their ability to sell?

Maybe, maybe not.

• A significant number of catalogs are already...

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That prompted one outlandish reaction, followed by another (both annonymous):

"You know, it's PATHETIC that the poor guy has only been dead for about probably 6 or 7 hours and you are posting LIES.It's people like you that...

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"Heath Ledger was not a notorious success chaser. In fact, he was a pretty private person who just so happened to have been very talented. I don't think he overfocused on his career, necessarily. He was apparently very committed to his family, which reportedly was undergoing some problems.

But hey, way to inject your religio-political viewpoint into someone's
untimely death."

????  What the.... ?????

I expressed my sadness for an actor I enjoyed, and then made a point that success does not necessarily bring happiness...which it sounds like Mr. Ledger would have agreed with if what this poster says is true with regards for Mr. Ledger shunning the limelight for the more important things in life.

So I'm at a loss for what I did wrong.  I'm also at a loss as to why this person then goes on to accuse me of inserting my "religio-political viewpoint" in response to Ledger's death.  Huh?  Since when is telling my audience that God and family are important to me somehow wrong?  And how in the world is it a "political" view?

I probably shouldn't have spend this much time reacting to an annonymous post (lots of guts there, by the way, on not putting your name with your ridiculous comment) but its important to say that this actor was one I enjoyed, and thought he was good.  At the news of his death, I was sad. 

And, there are lessons in it that we can all remember as we continue on with our careers and with our lives.  And I stick by that opinion, and will go home this evening remembering the life lesson it has reminded me of.

The lesson is this:                                                   

Finding success in your career, in business, and in life, does not necessarily bring happiness.  You can read about in the Bible, or you can read about it in the New York Times.  The examples are everywhere.

Success does not bring satisfaction.  Wealth is not the secret to happiness.

So what's it all about?  Why do we...

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There's a great article over at MarketingBlurb by my colleague Susan Gunelias.  She talks about the new movie "Cloverfield", which looks kind of like "The Blair Witch Project" on Godzilla-caliber steroids.

Susan makes an interesting observation in her post:

"From the beginning, Abrams (the director of the movie) has stated that his plan was to create a monster movie for the YouTube generation, so viral marketing was a natural extension of that vision." 

Which begs the question from me: What are you...

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Here's what it looks like:

So, now the question that will dictate whether or not this is the next big thing, or just another technology bust: Would you buy it?

For me, the answer is probably not.  That's not an opinion on the technology or product itself, mind you.  This might be the coolest thing in the world.  But here are the problems I see Amazon facing when it comes to selling a bunch of these:

• It's big.  From what I see, the trend in technology is going...

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I found it in my SalesDog weekly newsletter, but Rigg also has a website that you should look at if you're interested in more of his work.

Here's a quick sample of what Alan writes today:

"Talking about price is an important step in the sales opportunity qualification process. After all, if a prospect can't afford your price, is he really a valid prospect? Do you really want to invest your valuable time trying to sell to him?

That said, it often does more harm than good to discuss price before you and the prospect have determined whether your product or service can provide value. Just about any price sounds high when it is quoted "in a vacuum." Yet, that very same price can sound very reasonable, or even cheap, when compared to the quantified impact of a prospect's business problems."

Rigg goes on to explain his definition of "quantified impact".  Plus, he touches on lots of other great points when it comes to price.  I encourage you to read it.

Wall Street extended its 2008 plunge Thursday, tumbling after a regional Federal Reserve report showed a sharp decline in manufacturing activity and as investors feared that downgrades of key bond insurers could trigger further trouble with souring debt.  

The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 300 points, or nearly 2.5 percent, and skidded to its lowest close since March 16. The Standard & Poor's 500, the index closely watched by market professionals, fell nearly 3 percent.

Get ready for a changing economy, folks.  It's going to mean learning to sell in a radically different way than you have before...

Cool!

Check out www.MySellingSkills.com.

Here is a quick snippet of what Richards had to say on the matter:

"Seth Godin is right about a lot of things but not eulogizing those that obsessively tinker with their designs or websites in the guise of so-called passion. That sounds like workaholism to me.

There is a difference between drive and being driven. The latter is pathological and the former is life-enhancing. The reason sales people are driven by sales managers is that a salesperson can only be evaluated by activity and not results. You can't control results. I know this might sound heretical but many a seasoned sales manager knows that it is the activity, both working hard and smart is necessary but not sufficient. The mistake is to think that the salesperson has control over the sale. There are many external factors, the economy, other relationships the customer might have, timing. The list goes on. Sales is a numbers game at its base. And then there is luck. You can do much to improve your luck but you can't control it."

Seth Godin, who has authored a terrific new book on marketing that you have to read, replies to Christopher's thoughts:

"Actually, if I can be bold, you agree with me about both!

After all, here you are, for no money, posting a comment on this topic.

If you were a steelworker and it was after work hours and you had a chance to do a little smelting in your spare time, it's unlikely you would.

You read this blog (and comment on it) because of your passion."

Only Seth could work in the word "smelting" into a blog post. 

I see where he's coming from.  Last night, I was working on some blog posts and planning my next day of work while sitting on the couch with my laptop, watching The A Daily Show on Comedy Central.  A little extra "smelting"?  No way!  I love what I do, and I have that passion for my craft that Seth is talking about.  It was relaxing, it's always exciting, and challenging. 

When I look back at the fact that I did some extra work at night (and usually do), it's not out of compulsion.  It's from a passion.  I enjoy it, I find it stimulating, and I think its part of the new work culture that Seth (and author Polly Labarre) are talking about.

Interestingly, I often did the same type of thing (working at night, planning my next day, etc.) when I was working for someone else as a part of a sales team at a regional office early in my professional business career.  The difference was, I had to do it.  I had to stay up late.  Reports were due, deadlines had to be met.  All that crap.  Was I passionate about doing it?  No.  And, often, the results matched my level of enthusiasm.

That makes me think back prior to that during my career as a television sportscaster.  It was my dream job...staying up late, watching sports, going to games, doing interviews.  It was great.

Until, that is, I started to feel like I had to go to the game.  I had to stay up late and edit a story.  When I felt like I was forced to going to something fun, all of a sudden it wasn't fun.  Then it turns into work.  And that's when the passion drains out of you, the hours get longer, and the work turns into a task-master that demands more and more of your time.

Do you see the difference between spending time pursuing your passion, and not just logging in extra hours to "get ahead" in your job?  I think that's what Seth and Polly are getting at.

Don't get what we're talking about? 

Consider this: Most alcoholics don't realize they have an alcohol problem.  From what I've seen of workaholics that I know (and I know some of the best!), they operate the same way:  In the dark, sadly unaware of their worsening condition. 

Here's what Christopher Richards had to say:

Seth Godin is right about a lot of things but not eulogizing those that
obsessively tinker with their designs or websites in the guise of so-called passion. That sounds like workaholism to me.

There is a difference between drive and being driven. The latter is
pathological and the former is life-enhancing. The reason sales people are driven by sales managers is that a salesperson can only be evaluated by activity and not results. You can't control results. I know this might sound heretical but many a seasoned sales manager knows that it is the activity, both working hard and smart is necessary but not sufficient.

The mistake is to think that the salesperson has control over the sale. There are many external factors, the economy, other relationships the customer might have, timing. The list goes on. Sales is a numbers game at its base. And then there is luck. You can do much to improve your luck but you can't control it.

A relaxed person is a powerful person. I think it was Norman Vincent Peale who said that. And if it was him, he was right. But a driven salesperson who is working out of a sense of fear is counter productive. So I do agree with Mr. Godin on that one.

By the way, I write SlowDownNow.org: The almost serious antidote to
workaholism so at least we can laugh about this horrible state of affairs sometimes.

Great comment (unlike some comments I could talk about).  Richards is a writer and business communications and marketing consultant, and offers some valuable services.  Take a look at his website if you're looking for an experienced communications consultant.

They have non-environmentally centered gifts, too.  But the website really focuses on that eco-friendly promotional items angle, which is never a bad thing when it comes to standing out from the other 1.3 billion customer promotional gift companies out there.

One of my favorite products: The "Corn Plastic Pen".  It's 100% biodegradable (just make sure you don't lose it in your yard...it's going to disappear into dust pretty quickly).  Seriously, though, that's a good conversation piece!  That's it pictured right here ---->

Or, there is the Owl Business Brief 51% Recycled Fabric Brief.  Cool stuff, and it looks like a great item. 

You can even cardboard covered journal, or the organic lip balm.  There are lots of original choices...stuff I haven't seen before, and I've seen a lot corporate gift companies in my day.

They really have an expansive choice of gifts, all of which you can put your logo on (even the lip balm!).

I can recommend Empire promotional products as gift solutions that will give you a wide variety of choices for companies, especially if you are looking for original eco-friendly gift ideas.

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