The Content Blender

After falling in love with the Hipster PDA and Levengers Shirt
Pocket Briefcase,I started becoming more and more dependent on
3″ by 5″ index cards. They are great for note taking on the go
and keeping organized at my desk, so I naturally started
thinking of ways to use the cards to automate my sales process.
>From this, the “3X5″ was born. I may not be the first person to
use index cards in this way, but I do think a lot of salespeople
will find the system easy to use and very effective.

You will need the following items to create your own 3X5 sales
tool. I found everything I needed at my local Staples and
everything cost me around $25.00.

* A box to store the index cards * Monthly 3″ by 5″ index tabs
* Daily (1-31) 3″ by 5″ index tabs * Alphabetical 3″ by 5″ index
tabs * A ton of white ruled 3″ by 5″ index cards * A bunch of
colored 3″ by 5″ index cards * A small case to carry cards in
your pocket

Once you have purchased the required supplies, you can organize
your 3X5. For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that you are
assembling your 3X5 on January 1st. If this is the case you
would first organize your tabs in the order below (front to
back):

* January tab * Daily tabs 1-31 * February - December monthly
tabs * A-Z alphabetical tabs * Blank index cards - white and
your favorite color

All of your cards should now be in the file box and the first
thing you should see is the January tab.

Next, you should start creating cards for your leads. In the
beginning, this is going to take some time (assuming you have a
lot of leads). I use white cards for leads and colored cards for
my customers. You can do whichever you prefer, but I think it is
helpful to break down leads and customers.

The system works like this.

Let’s imagine it is January 1st. and you attend a networking
event where you meet a potential client. You get this lead’s
business card at the event and you want to contact him/her on
the 2nd., so when you get to your office, you staple the leads
business card to a white index card and drop it behind the “2″
tab and then go home for the day. After all, it is new years day
and you have been working hard to create your new sales system
and you attended a networking event.

So, you arrive at work on January 2nd. and open up your 3X5. The
first thing you should do is move the “1″ tab back behind the
February tab. You will always be rolling the system forward like
this, so that the first tab you see in the box represents the
most current month, then the most current day.

Now, you go to the tab for today (Jan 2nd.) and find the card
for the lead that you met at the networking event yesterday. You
call the lead and learn that he/she is out of town until January
6th. so you make a note which says, “1/2/05 - Mr. Lead is on
vacation till 1/6″. Now you drop the card behind the “6″ tab for
the month of January.

You will continue to roll this lead forward in the system,
making notes at each step, until the lead either turns into a
customer or asks you to leave them alone.

When the lead turns into a customer, I staple their business
card to a colored card and place it behind the appropriate
alphabetical tab. If their is another opportunity with this
client, I move the colored card back to the dated section and
move them through the process again.

Of course, as you add more people to your pipeline, you might
not get to contact everyone on the day you have them slotted
for. Just move them to the next day’s slot at the end of the
current day so you contact them tomorrow.

You will not want to carry around a huge metal box full of index
cards, which is why you want to have a small index card wallet
or box, so if you are going to be on the road or out of the
office, you can simply grab your cards for the day and go.

Not just for salespeople.

While the system is great for salespeople, it also is a great
tool for those of us who are focusing on networking. I actually
use three different colored cards and use white for leads, blue
for clients and red for my networking contacts (patriotic, I
know). On the red cards, I write either 7, 14, 30, 45, 60, etc
in the upper right hand corner of the index card to remind
myself how frequently I want to contact the person, so I simply
move the card forward based on the number on the card. If I want
to contact someone every seven days, I move the card ahead a
week after I make contact.

This really ties in well to Keith Ferrazzi’s book Never Eat
Alone, which recommends you regularly ping your network. By the
way, if you have not read the book, you should. You can get book
notes for free from the Never Eat Alone blog.

Options / Enhancements.

I have been considering adding daily tabs to each month so that
I can move people ahead to a any specific date (IE. August
11Th.) in the future.

You could also keep some sticky tabs handy so you can add a tab
to the top of any index card for the contacts birthday. If you
do this, you could just put an August tab on the card for every
contact whose birthday is in August so you could quickly compile
a birthday list each month. Again, this is probably overkill and
you could probably just add the contacts name to a calendar and
keep it separate, but what fun is that?

Before computers, before cellphones, before television-people used to read. It is an archaic pasttime, I must admit. I know that people don’t do much reading these days. That’s why they pay 28% on those credit cards they carry in their pockets.

If you’re bored with mindless video games, gratitious violence on TV ..or if you have some time to relax-a good book is a good way to go. I’m not going to clog up your minds or pervert your youth with garbage that will develop Acquired Stupidity Snydromn in you. Here are my favorites. Take a look-see!

America Is In The Heart by Carlos Bulosan

This is a hard-hitting autobiography of a Filipino immigrant struggly against prejudice and injustice in 20th century America. It’s rough, it’s shocking, it’s spellbounding, it’s life as Mr. Bulosan knew it. If you’re into history of the common folk, you’ll love this book. It’s a great one!

UFOs in West Virginia, Close Encounter in the Mountain State by Bob Teets
Before ET, before Captain Kirk, before Martians in Mexico, there were UFOs in West-by God-Virginia! According to the 150 plus wittnesses interviewed by Bob this ain’t no made up stuff. Sure, you city slickers and cell-phone nerds might laught at us common folk, but it ain’t no laughting matter! Something’s going on here. Up in them hills, they got greens, they got greys, they got sightings that would scare the boots off of a Texan who was accused of looking like some actor in that new, popular cowboy movie. Don’t take my word for it, read it for yourself. Just don’t get too skeert!

A Century of Dishonor by Helen Jackson

This is the story of the Native Americans in the 1800s compasionately written by Ms. Jackson. The cruelty meted out is horrendous. Her documentation is outstanding. Her understanding is uniques, particularly for an Anglo. Some dated beliefs are obvious in the work. However, overall, Ms. Jackson tells us of a horrible part of history that should never be repeated.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary

They seem to have a word for just about everything in English. The book offers a unique refresher for college graduates. For example, you’ll learn that “too” and “to” may both be adverbs-they actually have different meanings. You’ll actually learn the difference between pie and pi.

Here are a few more:

Anything by Edgar Allen Poe, H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft and Bill Shakespeare.

Gene Smith is a writer from West Virginia. He holds a B.A. and is a former Fellow of I.S.P.E. He lives near Charles Town.

Investing offshore means taking on investment strategies that cash in the investment advantages that are available outside the investor’s home country. Therefore, offshore investments are investments made outside the local jurisdiction. They are most often made in tax havens that are less regulated than the local jurisdiction and business legislation.

Offshore investments are some of the most tax efficient investments. They can help you multiply your assets by making your money work hard for you while you enjoy the luxuries the offshore investment returns buy for you. Reputable offshore companies offer fiscally sound, time-tested and legal bond and equity assets. These investments give benefits like:

Tax Reduction: There are countries that favor foreign investors. Thus, they give tax incentives to the investors. They have favorable tax rates and promote a healthy investment environment. The investors do not engage in local operations, so little or no tax is imposed on them.

Asset Protection: Offshore investment locations can give you good opportunity for restructuring assets ownership. If you are hassled by lawsuits or lenders foreclosing on outstanding debts then you can transfer some of your assets to an offshore entity.

Confidentiality - Offshore investments could also mean benefit of secrecy legislation. For example you can enjoy banking confidentiality and corporate confidentiality. However, this confidentiality does not mean that offshore investors have an illegal background. They are usually high profile investors who can get significant financial and legal advantage if their identity is kept secret.

Diversification of Investment - By investing offshore you can diversify your investment portfolio to a great extent. The offshore investment market may offer better and more diverse investment opportunities that local investment markets. This is especially true if you invest in developing economies and more so for those countries that are beginning to privatize sectors that were formerly under government control.

Offshore investments can help you defer the taxes. They give you a secured financial future with the added advantage of anonymity. You may invest in real estate offshore and make gold out of dirt. Likewise there are many investment avenues open for you offshore.

If you are a tenant and looking for loans then UK unsecured personal loans could be the best option. In fact, there are several loans available in the market but to avail a loan of your choice is very important. UK unsecured personal loans can be used to fulfil all your needs and wants.

Money plays a big role in our life. In almost every step of life we need money. Starting from children’s education to wedding, debt consolidation, etc., we need money. Sometimes, it seems very tough to fulfil all the financial needs from the hard earned money. But, we can’t compromise with the needs that are essential in our life. So, to tackle such a situation, UK unsecured personal loans could be a great help for us.

UK unsecured personal loans do not require collateral against the loan amount. So, such loans are ideal for tenants. Though, UK unsecured personal loans are offered by lenders at slightly high rate of interest than secured loans but, borrowers bear no risks. In case of secured loans, if a borrower does not repay the loan amount on time, lenders may repossess his or her property.

UK unsecured personal loans are offered for a short period of time so, borrowers need to calculate the loan amount as per their requirements. Raising a higher amount than the required may pose some problems that can lead to bad credit situations. Also borrowers need to shop around for the interest rates and the loan terms and conditions that are being offered by different lenders.

You can do search through Internet. Browse different financial websites and gather information. Compare the loan offers and then apply through online process. Get UK unsecured personal loans to meet your needs as well as demands.

It’s difficult to dispute the rational behind the rant since Google continues to outpace its rivals in popularity with an 89% “strongly positive experience” rating from an opinion poll of U.S. Adult Internet Users conducted by eMarketer in early 2005. Google certainly achieves mass exposure and logically it’s fair to attribute a first position ranking to gaining access to the masses.

However, your success in search engine marketing should not be reliant on a single source of visitors. Although the convenience of focusing on Google is comforting in the whirlwind of new search and Internet technology, the outcome from it could be disastrous to the growth of your business.

An effective search engine marketing strategy leverages the advantages of all of the major search engines and their advertising channels including natural and paid.

Why?

Here are three essential reasons why you should expand your search engine marketing strategy beyond just Google, paid search or any other singular search engine marketing strategy to encompass the broader opportunities available for your business.

(1) Paid versus Natural Search: Relevancy and Conversion

A common strategy of search engine marketing companies and Internet marketers is to bid for the top paid search listing in Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture) or Google Adwords as a way to acquire the perceived “bread and butter” position in the search results page. The concept is that a search result appearing at the top of the list is the most relevant to the search users’ keyword query and therefore will receive the most click-throughs and conversions.

However, research from Enquiro as well as many other research firms, found a “significant amount of confusion over sponsored links.” In the research conducted, over 77% of participants when performing a product research search choose a natural listing over a paid listing. Even during an actual purchase scenario, 67% of participants still choose a natural listing over a paid one.

And what about Google specifically? The Enquiro study showed that 85% of Google users choose a natural listing while 14% clicked on a paid “sponsored” link. The study stated that, “Google users also had the lowest level of confusion about what was a sponsored link on the search results page.” Compare these numbers to 42% of search users on non-Google search engines like Yahoo and MSN choose a sponsored link over a natural listing.

Also, the conversion rate whether sales or leads may be affected by the source of a website visitor’s click-through. A study conducted by MarketingSherpa called “Search Marketing Metrics Survey” in July 2004, showed that “conversions from (natural) search engine results are 25%+ higher than paid search ad conversions.” Relevancy from search result listing to website is critical however you also need to consider the relevancy associated with the ad type - paid versus natural.

So you know the insight - what’s the solution?

Easy - don’t get caught up in an “either/or” decision, as a search engine marketer you must focus on both natural search through search engine optimization and paid search.

As the Enquiro study stated, “Unless a company is willing to forfeit either 70% (in the case of natural) or 30% (in the case of paid) of their potential market to the competition they have to seriously consider both search channels.”

(2) Cross-Search Engine Builds Brand Credibility

Tempting as it may be to put all of your eggs in one basket for convenience sake, Google is not the only major source of quality website visitors. In the most recent search engine rankings issued by Nielsen/NetRatings in March 2005, Google was first with 47% of searches (among work and home users in U.S.); Yahoo second with 20.9% and MSN third with 13.6%. If you only focus on Google, you are missing access to over 53% of the marketplace.

In addition, another separate study conducted by Nielsen/NetRatings determined that “the majority of Internet searchers use mutliple search engines.” As a ClickZ article written by Rob McGann on February 28, 2005 stated, “The (Nielsen/NetRatings) study found that 58% of Google searchers also visited at least one of the other top two search engines, Yahoo and MSN Search.”

So what happens when a potential customer finds your search listing on Google yet you are no where to be found on MSN or Yahoo? What if they only see a sponsor listing on Google which they immediately view as less than relevant? How about a major slam against your credibility?

Yes - that’s right. Because of the wide-spread utility of the internet for research and consideration during a buying cycle, if you are not found across search engines for a particular keyword search, you don’t exist in the eye of the searcher as a potential option to fulfill their needs. On the other hand, if you are found across multiple search engines, you instantly receive a relevancy and credibility boost.

So you know the insight - what’s the solution?

Focus on generating search result listings for at least the top three search engines - Google, Yahoo and MSN. Because these three feed a number of other search engines like AOL and AskJeeves (for paid listings) you will gain cross-search engine exposure.

In the worse case, work on generating natural search listings in Google and perform paid search in Yahoo and MSN using Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture) to achieve the broad search exposure.

If search users are adopting multiple search engines to conduct their keyword searches then build your credibility with them by appearing across the major search engines especially for your top brand-oriented keywords.

(3) Search Engine User Demographics

Depending on the type of product or service you are selling, focusing on just Google or any other single search engine marketing strategy may be placing you in the entirely wrong marketplace. Although absolute demographic figures are difficult to gather, a 2004 Enquiro study titled, “Search Engine Usage in North America” provided some interesting demographic characteristics for the top three search engines:

• Males are more likely to remain loyal with one search engines (primarily Google) while females are more likely to use more than one search engine (Google, MSN and Yahoo).

• Males prefer Google while females had a strong preference for MSN.

• For both males and females, a trusted site that offers unbiased information with the natural search results was the strongest preference.

• As educational levels increased, an affinity towards Google increased as well. This may imply that Google uses are more sophisticated.

• Google users were more Internet savvy than non Google users therefore, for technology-related products Google may be a better source of qualified visitors while MSN and Yahoo may be better for non technology-related products.

So you know the insight - what’s the solution?

Visitor behaviors are dynamic - they have a tendency to change as frequently as the weather. Therefore, do not assume that your potential customers are sophisticated and therefore reside in the Google pool. Instead, use paid search engines to test all three major search engines to generate a sense of where your potential customers hang-out. Once you find a populated pool of qualified visitors work on building your natural search listings to support and ultimately replace your paid search engine strategy.

Although it is easy to want to simplify search engine marketing by focusing all of your efforts on the biggest and most popular search engine, Google - it is business smart to avoid the temptation. Yahoo and MSN are prominent players in the search engine market and may possess hidden gems that could explode your business growth. Even more so, moving beyond the top three search engines is also important to extend your brand exposure on an international level.

By focusing your efforts across the top three search engines whether using natural or paid listings, you are placing yourself in the best position to build credibility, relevance and conversion - the main variables that lead to significant search engine marketing success for your business.

Kevin Gold is a writer, speaker and co-founder of Enhanced Concepts, Inc. Enhanced Concepts specializes in turning website visitors into leads or sales through web conversion strategies and ROI-driven search engine marketing. If you want to increase your leads or sales and get a free copy of “Understanding Your Conversion Rate” and “12 Surefire Ways to Increase Your Website Conversion” visit http://www.enhancedconcepts.com