Articles & Reports

In a perfect world, you’d know exactly what your customers want and could serve it right up to them without hesitation. Unfortunately, things don’t quite work this way, so you’ve got to use the tools you have available to find out more about your customers. And there’s no better tool for this purpose than a survey.

A well-written and formatted survey will generate high response rates and provide you with quality information that can be used to improve just about any aspect of your business. In this White Paper, we’ll examine some best practices you can use to build a great survey

It's that time of year again when we all list our New Years resolutions. Lose 10 lbs, get to work early, call your Mom every week. We know, we all have them. Sometimes they seem too hard, even though we know we should. Here is a list of 10 achievable resolutions all businesses should focus on in the New Year, if you're not already ahead of the game. If you are, consider yourself a pro and do everything 20% better!

Use a Calendar

Google has a great one where you can use alerts to remind you to write copy and send communications. Bonus? You can also share it with others so that they know exactly when you're planning to launch a campaign.

Column by Janine Popick, Inc.com "Women in Business"
January 2008

Here's how you can make new employees feel like part of the family the first day they walk in.

It's never been harder to attract great employees than it is now, but in my opinion it's never been easy either. Getting a job is not as hard as it used to be, and potential employees have a ton of options. So when you finally hire someone, it's important to make him/her feel part of the family fast — with a capital F.

Column by Janine Popick, Inc.com "Women in Business"
November 2007

Put up boundaries before your friends get too cozy being the boss's buddy.

Have you ever hired a friend? Someone you may have worked with in the past? We all do it, and for good reason: We trust them and we think they'll do a good job. Otherwise we wouldn't do it, right?

Then a great thing happens. Your company grows and you find yourself working with new people you don't have a previous relationship with... a sign of good times! But what happens when your relationship with your "Friend from the Past" (FFTP) changes from business to personal, and they don't follow?

Delivering email seems pretty straightforward, right? You upload a mailing list, create an email, hit send, and then mighty wizards transport that email to your recipients through the use of ancient, handcrafted cables and powerful laser beams. What more could you possibly need to know about this process? As it turns out, loads more.

There are a number of factors that determine whether an email, especially a bulk email, gets a response from its recipients. What are those factors? I’m glad you asked!