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Your business card can bring you more leads, more clients and more riches…but only IF you know how to leverage its full potential. The humble business card has got to be the most underutilized marketing tool of all…yet it has the power to churn out riches into your bank account like a turbo-charged, cash-flow machine.

When I’m at a networking event I’m amazed that only 5% of the business cards I see are truly effective. The rest miss the mark…badly. First off, I invite you to rethink the function of your business card…

Don’t think of your business card as an ugly, functional parking lot for your name and address. Think of your business card as an elegant invitation to a fantastic party you’re having. You want lots of people to come and enjoy the fun. With this mindset, here are five keys to leverage the full power of your business card.

1. Put a Call to Action on Your Business Card

When someone hands me their business card the first thing I do is flip it over. I’m usually shocked. 95% of the time I see the same massive mistake being made…the back of the card is blank! (Or worse, it has a small advertisement for the printing company, which indicates the person didn’t want to spend the $10.00 to remove the printer’s logo.)

Use the back of your business card to present an irresistible offer and reason why someone should go to your website or contact you again. Offer them a free special report, eCourse or audio with information your target market most wants. The #1 purpose of your business card should be to invite them to take the next step in your sales process.

2. Make It Easy To Write On Your Business Card

I like to make the front of my card glossy and the back flat. This way I can write a personal note on the back where my call to action is. This personalizes the “invitation” and helps people remember you out of all the business cards they already have stuffed in their pockets.

3. Put a Photo of You On Your Business Card

Get a professional headshot and make it big on your card. You know what it’s like having a stack of cards and not remembering who’s who. But when your beautiful face is front and center people will remember you.

4. Make Your Business Card Simple

Another big mistake I see is cramming too much info on your card. Your business card isn’t there to sell people…it’s there to guide people to take one, simple step - your call to action. Don’t confuse people by giving them more than one website to visit. If you give a dog two bones they go crazy with confusion. When marketing your business give your prospects only one single action to take.

Avoid odd size and shape business cards - it becomes a burden for the person carrying it.

5. Make Your Business Card Easy on the Eye

Your card also needs to be visually appealing and easy on the eye. Avoid any graphic element that isn’t essential in driving people your call to action.

Avoid handwriting fonts because they are hard to read. Also avoid super small print.

I use a graphic trick on the front of my business card that’s literally as old as the Gutenberg Bible. Artists for the past 550 years know that the three most powerful colors in print are black, white and red. The whole front of my card is black with white and red text. It’s called a reversal. This way my name pops right out.

Also, my headshot on the front is against a dark background and I’m wearing a dark suit with a red shirt and tie - again, so my face pops right out. The back of my card is all white except for my call to action copy, which is red and black. This style works for me. Your task is to find the right look and style that matches your brand.

I recommend you spend the extra money to get the best printing possible. You want your prospect to handle your business card and feel its weight and glossy front surface. It all adds to the positive, perceived image you want to make.

The look and feel of your card is for one purpose only…to make it easy for your potential client to take the call to action you indicate. Your business card is only step one of many - it’s the invitation. You must decide what your sales process looks like for your business first and THEN create your business card to support the sales funnel that will make-you-rich.

Small business marketing coach, James Roche, shows you how to attract more clients, develop an internet marketing strategy and create your information products and programs. Discover his proven and practical marketing strategies with his free special report, “The Shift: Quit Struggling, Make a Difference and Join the New Rich” http://www.marketingmadeeasyblueprint.com/

An autoresponder, which can also be referred to as an email responder, a mailbot and an auto mail to name a few has become an excellent tool for promoting and marketing across the internet. The main purpose of an autoresponder is the time saving benefit that is achieved through its use, as it sends an automatic reply to an email with a predefined response.
As well as sending a standard response to any received message through the use of an email script running on a server the autoresponder can send the correct return message depending upon the content of the received message. All autoresponders work in the same way with this function, and the return email can be selected upon the script or the receiving email address.

Taking care where you submit your email to when using an autoresponder address is something that needs to be taken into consideration. For example, when you submit a website to search engines, classified listings or directories many of these will use autoresponders themselves, and by using your email address here can leave the two mailbots constantly responding to one another, which is quite an annoying event.

You may even find that by not using a valid email address for subscribing to an ezine or email you may have your subscription revoked because of the autoresponder. It can be annoying for the sender to mail out to everyone and finds that your autoresponder is constantly replying to them, bear this in mind and never use your autoresponder email address to subscribe to anything.

As much as autoresponders can be a great, and very effective tool, they can also be a hazard and a nuisance, many times with subscription groups or ezines it is a growling task to locate the user of an autoresponder when mails are sent. This is because the reply, or from address does not match to that of which they provided when signing up, and to locate the address which is using an autoresponder can be time consuming.

Providing you use your autoresponder appropriately and correctly, i.e. not signing up for subscriptions or annoying others, it will treat you well. An autoresponder can be a very effective, time saving and cost saving piece of equipment in any business. The ease of setting up and use are two great benefits of an autoresponder, especially for those of us that are not so technically minded. With the initial cost and the ease of operation an autoresponder can make you internet business easier than before, and easier than you thought possible.

Find out which site ranked best in our Email Autoresponder Reviews at www.EmailAutoresponderReviews.net

The internet marketing experts would tell you that the money comes from your list. However, it is not solely on that. Yes a list is the backbone of your business, but if it is not created properly, then you would not experience the best cash flow it could bring. You need to have prospects, but without the proper option list building, money would not come to you! Therefore, follow these 4 list building techniques for better lists:

1. Determine what your market really wants: You must comprehend their needs and wants since by doing so you will have a better bond with them. You can do this through analyzing what they are looking for with their keywords and phrases. Then find the product that would suit their needs most. Since you have what they need, they would more likely purchase your product. When doing a synopsis on what you offer on your site, DO NOT give all the details! That is a big mistake since they would not buy it once they already know what they need and want to know. It is best to hook their interest then they will purchase your product.

2. Squeeze page: This is also called as opting page. This is just a simple part of your site where people would fill out a certain form (do not make it long, only the first name and email address will do) to be able to subscribe to your mails. This means that you have partially gotten them since they already subscribed to your letters. After that, you can start doing your free email marketing. Send out content which is catchy and can tickle their curiosity.

3. Look for partners: This has the potential to boost your sales drastically. What I mean about partners are people who have sites like yours of the same niche. Example: if your site is about lead generation marketing, then look for other sites which do the same thing. This is one of the most effective list building strategies called cross promoting. Finding a partner would be easy just sending them an email will do. Sooner, you will be surprised at the drastic growth of your list. After this, move how to direct traffic in your squeeze page.

4. Traffic to your site can be achieved in many ways. Search engine optimization, pay per click ads, writing ezines, press releases and different other methods can really boost the traffic on your page.

The traffic alone would not build your list. What you need is for them to option. This means that you need to have them bite the bait. Give freebies as they option that is a good way to attract people such as newsletters and e books. You have to give them something that would attract their attention and would make them look for more information from you.

Give the extra boost to your sales by visiting the website http://www.listquad.info. Know all about list building strategies that generates traffic to your site. Visit today to bring your business on fast track!

Companies have expanded their consumer base from national level to global level economies. The dawn of the World Wide Web has paved the new way of conducting business across the globe. It has cut down the costs of conducting businesses and even the costs of maintaining the business.

The life of the companies would greatly depend on its exposure to the rest of the consumers all over the globe. Companies are exerting all efforts to be capable of doing lead generation marketing. It is a marketing style whose sole purpose is to create a consumer base that has a great possibility of purchasing the companies products and services. This process of building a consumer base can only be done from consolidating the personal data of future consumers.

These data are usually gathered by external agencies and are resold to interested companies. The data gathered through lead generation marketing are usually used by companies for opt in list building. This is a master list of consumers who will comprise the companies consumer base. Opt in list is a collection of email addresses where companies can send their brochures, newsletters and other promotional materials. A successfully and extensively created opt in list will automatically translate to a solid consumer contact.

This contact will be the venue of the companies to constantly advertise and make sales. This list will also be the reference point of opt in email marketing style of advertising and business promotion. Opt in styles if marketing especially through email are considered as one of the powerful tools that can make businesses bigger. The advertising companies who can get hold of opt in lists have the advantage of being noticed.

There are many list building techniques that companies will come across with. These techniques can be generalized in two conditions. First, a company should know what the demography of their target market is. Identifying the target market will let the companies have a more precise style of advertising. It will also make an assessment whether the target market is a potent consumer base or not. It is also vital to make sure that the target market has its ways of generating income. Secondly, the companies should know whether the target market is an existing population in the Internet. It is a simple concept, companies cannot advertise through the Internet if the target market is not internet browsers in the first place.

Companies are utilizing all resources to create a strong consumer base that consent to online marketing and advertising. The tool of free email marketing is a potent way of the companies to achieve its goals. The wide range of marketing operations in the internet has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is an advantage because the internet is a form of communication that is packed with millions of traffic every day.

Penetrating the internet as a market base is equivalent to having many customers. However, its advantage is its openness to illegal marketing styles. There are companies which choose to use unsolicited style of free email marketing also known as spam. The use of this type of marketing can lead to criminal charges and sanctions.

Give the extra boost to your sales by visiting the website http://www.listquad.info. Know all about list building strategies that generates traffic to your site. Visit today to bring your business on fast track!

You all know the type - people who brag, “Mine is bigger than yours”. But what does this have to do with marketing?

Well … many marketers unwittingly belong to the mine is bigger than yours school of marketing, where they go out of their way to get bigger everything for their clients, without considering the impacts.

What am I talking about? If you are in business, you will no doubt have heard of people promoting:

* Bigger email lists
* Bigger number of Twitter followers
* Bigger number of Facebook fans
* Bigger numbers of links
* Bigger PR events & stunts
* Bigger ads in print, yellow pages and TV
* Bigger numbers of website visitors

Marketers everywhere push bigger is better on the assumption that raw numbers of things mean that you will increase your sales or market share.

Sounds logical. But what is the downside of some of these bigger than Ben Hur strategies?

If you push for bigger email lists, you could end up with thousands of people who really don’t know or care about your product or service. You may also cut corners in terms of gathering their email details. If you market to this type of list, you could end up being branded a spammer and losing all credibility.

Twitter has seen a massive influx of “grow your list by thousands a day” sort of marketers. Even traditional marketers have been caught up with the bigger is better approach, but when you check out who is following them, you get to see thousands of spammers, other marketers, and people not related to their market. Thousands of people who will not buy their products or services in a pink fit.

If you head for bigger numbers of links to boost your rankings you may end up going down the path of being caught with link spammers and link farms. This may give you a quick search engine high only to get Google slapped where your website disappears into oblivion in terms of search engine rankings.

Bigger PR events and stunts can be a great way to build brand awareness, but they can also be extremely costly and may not result in actual increases in sales for your business.

Bigger ads are another area of challenge. If your yellow pages ad works as a small display ad surely a whole page ad may be better. This is one you need to test and measure but many of our clients are finding that when they downsize their ads, their phone calls from the ad either stay the same or increase, as people perceive they are not as expensive as the companies that take out full-page ads.

Bigger number of visitors to your website … surely that at least is a good thing? Well yes and no. Yes, site traffic is one part of search engine results but it is not the only factor. People visit websites to research information or to buy products. What point is having thousands of people a day visit your site if they are not interested in the information you provide or the services you offer?

You see, the true marketing difference is quality over quantity. In business, you want to make your cash register ring. You want to attract more customers who are interested in what you offer and are willing to pay money for it as a result. Warm leads outperform cold leads hands down.

I would prefer to have a small handful of the numbers bandied around by the “big stuff” marketers but have each one of these small handful of people passionate about my products and service and already holding their money ready to buy, than have thousands of people with no interest and even less intention to buy. What about you?

So, the next time you are tempted to “get more” take a deep breath and work out what exactly do you want more of, and how specifically can you get more of what you truly need and less of what you don’t.

There’s a saying “only take what you need and leave the rest”. There’s also a saying “quality over quantity”. Apply both of these in your marketing and you will create some great successes for your business.

Ingrid Cliff is a freelance writer and the Chief Word Wizard of Heart Harmony - a writing services studio that helps put your business into words. For a free copy of the “7 Secrets of Compelling Copy & Powerful Words” visit her website www.heartharmony.com.au .

The biggest problem coaches have when they are starting out is deciding on and defining a target coaching niche. I had the same trouble because I thought if I narrowed my niche to a specific target then I would be eliminating too many people and it would be more difficult to get coaching clients.

The exact opposite is true and it makes sense when you think about it. How can you relate to any group of people for any purpose if you do not define who you are trying to reach? You can’t and it is that simple. Just like you can’t make everyone happy, you can’t be the right coach for all niches so you must become the best coach for one niche.

There are the criteria we need to judge a possible niche against to determine which niche is the best fit for us as a coach and to eliminate niches that we may be passionate about but have little or no chance of supporting a coaching business.

It may seem obvious that you should have a high interest level in the target coaching niche you choose but many coaches choose a niche based on their experience alone. Many of us have spent years in a particular field,have a great degree of experience and competence in that area but we have lost our passion and interest in the field. Yes choose that niche because it is what we know and because of the level and length of experience we are extremely competent.

This level of interest will most likely not be sufficient to sustain you through the development of an entrepreneurial endeavor. Make no mistake; starting your own business of any type requires a lot of hard work and immense dedication so you better be passionate about it.

Choose a target coaching niche that is so interesting to you that you would consider working in that area even if you did not make any money. Of course you want to make money so you can continue to help others with your coaching but the point remains you must be dedicated and committed to your goals.

Experience in a particular niche can be valuable but experience alone is not enought to justify choosing a particular target coaching niche. Make sure that you choose a coaching niche that excites you and is one that you are passionate about because a high level of commitment is essential to achieving the level of success you desirein your coaching business.

Learn how to attract clients to your coaching business now. Get Suzan’s FREE eCourse at http://www.thecoachmarketer.com. Learn to Attract dozens of clients to your coaching business “No Sales Required Client Attraction” http://www.nosellingclientattraction.com

Since the online shopping boom erupted, competition for customers has been steadily increasing. Both online and traditional retailers have had to come up with marketing strategies to win customer loyalty. One method that is becoming increasingly popular is the use of reward program cards. Customers who have reward cards enjoy a number of benefits such as rebates in the form of earning a certain amount of points, discounted prices, a free item, and special coupon offers. Reward programs cards have proven to be a smart marketing strategy.

Reward cards can be paper constructed cards that are stamped or have a hole punched through it, or a plastic card that looks like a credit card. Plastic cards typically have a magnetic strip that is scanned when a customer pays for a product. The card registers the sale and the bonus such as points is applied to the customer’s rewards program. Information about what the customer purchased is stored in a database. According to a study performed by Boston University’s College of Communication, “eighty-six percent of American shoppers are listed in a loyalty database; a majority of survey respondents said receiving the card was worth giving up some measure of privacy.”

Customers accumulate reward points to receive a free reward or discount. This can be in the form of a cup of coffee, meal, a retailer’s promotional item, discount on an item, a tank of gas…etc. There are more extravagant rewards such as a free plane trip and hotel accommodation,

The reasons why businesses should offer reward program cards to their customers include:

1. Businesses can collect a customer’s name and address so they can send out information regarding their products and services. They can send flyers, special promotional deals, and newsletters. This allows the business to increase sales by staying in contact with their customers and maintain a relationship. They can also learn more about what their customers buy so that they can send out advertisements based on the customer’s personal buying preferences. Communication shows the customer that the business values them which will allow the business to stay ahead of the competition.

2. A reward program card will encourage repeat customers and increase the likelihood of acquiring loyal customers. Customers enjoy receiving rewards for shopping at a store. They feel valued and appreciated. This increases loyalty to the business and in doing so increases sales. A rewards card programs allows a business to build a large loyal customer base.

3. Reward card programs are very cost effective. For instance if a customer buys 10 cups of copy at $1.00 per cup and earns a free cup that only costs the retailer .50, then the business is spending very little to earn a bigger return. The best reward program will offer better rewards as the customer increases their spending. The customer should feel the reward is well worth returning to the store. When returning to the store, the customer will be more likely to browse and purchase another item.

There is a good reason why more businesses are adopting reward card programs. With such a program, a business will obtain and retain repeat customers, acquire an effective means of marketing a product, and increase sales. The money a company spends out on a reward program is well worth it because they see a much greater return on their investment. Because so many companies are establishing this type of program, it just makes sense for a business to acquire one of their own.

We design, deliver, and develop loyalty marketing services including loyalty cards and reward programs.

Your enthusiasm for easy ways to get home cover leads, if you are a house insurance dealer, it is quite understandable; because such leads are the lifeblood of the cover business. As it turns out, the home insurance business, as indeed any cover business, depends on what is typically referred to as push marketing that is, where the person who is selling the insurance gets a hint (which is also referred to as a lead) regarding people who are likely to be looking to purchase such cover, with the insurance vendor then having to go forward and try to market the policy directly to that person.

This is to say that the insurance business which is an opportunity at home as for any insurance vendor will concur, is not a business where the prospective buyers tend to approach the vendors trying to find what they are looking for (though that does happen at times), but rather one where it is the vendors who have to approach the buyers having gotten a hint (a lead) that such people are more likely to be looking for insurance, and try to get them then to purchase their particular product rather than competitor’s product.

So having identified the importance of leads - also referred to as hints in the description; which are a few easy ways through which an insurer dealing with house insurance can get the home insurance leads more easily?

Well, the first, and probably easiest way, to get house insurance leads is simply by partnering with the websites which is an opportunity at home,that have come up on the Internet in recent times, that are simply in the business of selling the home insurance leads, and directly purchasing the leads from them.

At their core, these lead vendors are essentially “Webpreneurs” who have developed highly optimized sites for the keywords prospective house insurance buyers search for the service online with, so that whenever a prospective home insurance buyer enters a search for house insurance, they land at the home insurance leads vendor’s website, from where they can then be redirected to the websites of the various insurance providers with whom the opportunity at home cover leads vendor in question has partnered with. So the arrangement is that you pay them so many dollars for so many leads successfully delivered to your websites, with the responsibility to convert the leads into sales falling squarely upon you as the cover vendor.

Another easy way you can get home cover leads is by developing a website, optimizing it highly for the keywords people use whenever searching for home cover and thereby getting the leads you would be looking for. Of course, the optimization costs money, and might at the end of the day prove to be more costly than purchasing the leads from the home cover leads vendors.

The third easy way through which you can get house insurance leads the easy ways by simply sticking to tradition, “cold-calling” and “door-knocking” to the people who are likely to be looking to purchase the opportunity at home insurance; a strategy which though sometimes looked down upon in modern times, can still yield remarkable results, and you know with
the fruit of your labor with the time that you put into these types of leads with be worth something in the long run.

You will then have the leads that you need so that your insurance business will flourish and grow as it should.

For an opportunity at home the Home Income Alliance is I the best place to start. We will teach you what working on line is and actually teach you how to do it. Click on the link above or go to my blog at http://opportunityathome4you.blogspot.com/

In today’s world, celebrity isn’t just for celebrities anymore. We have celebrity political pundits, celebrity cooks, lawyers, financial experts, fitness gurus, even celebrity bail bondsmen! Professionals from a wide array of fields are now taking full advantage of this new media age - and the “New Age of Celebrity” we are living in!

For example, it might be an expert turned author like Timothy Ferriss, whose first book The 4-Hour Workweek became an instant classic and perennial bestseller, launching his status as a gold-standard consultant, speaker, expert, pundit… you name it.

Or, more recently, it could be internet sensation and media darling Susan Boyle, who stepped onto the stage of the hit show Britain’s Got Talent to low expectations, opened her mouth and sang beautifully, impressing none other than Simon Cowell and winning over the world as a bona fide Youtube sensation.

And “overnight success” Tim Ferris boasts a BA from Princeton University as well as a long list of academic, professional and personal achievements that went into the writing of his bestselling book. And while Susan Boyle may have leaped to national prominence on the strength of one widely distributed TV performance, she in fact studied theater and dance and might have pursued it earlier if she hadn’t been busy caring for her ailing mother singlehandedly.

So while the true “overnight success” may be rare, there is no denying that in this day and age celebrity is not only there for the taking - but can take you by storm if you’re unprepared. So how will you know when it’s your time to open the doorway to fame? Here are a few top signals that you’re ready for that next big step toward your own brand of celebrity:

1. You are confident in your abilities: Confidence is a skill central to all celebrities; they know their stuff and, what’s more, they “know” that they know their stuff. You can only “fake it ’til you make it” so long before being caught short in the celebrity department. True celebrities, be they household names or industry leaders like yourself, let confidence be their ticket to fame.

2. You speak success fluently: Success really is a state of mind. If you base success on your bank account, your stock price, your units shipped or your ROI, there will always be someone bigger and better at what you do. New York and LA don’t hold the patents on celebrity; wherever you are, whatever you do, whatever niche you own or expertise you enjoy, that is your ticket to celebrity anywhere in the world.

3. Your associates already see you as a celebrity: Regardless of how much money we make or our position in life, we are all capable of celebrity in our own unique ways. We may never star in a blockbuster movie, write a bestselling business book or sing on live TV, but when we find - and own - our own particular niche we can become celebrities of equal stature in our little (or not so little) corner of the world. Maybe you already are; maybe you have already wowed the local reporters, mastered the local talk show circuit and are already the go-to person for interview quotes in your neck of the woods. Or maybe you’re just the guy or gal everybody goes to with questions on finance, health, fitness, the tango or tomato growing. Don’t assume that blockbuster status comes one day to your doorstep, gift-wrapped with a card announcing itself. I meet celebrities all day long; they just don’t know it yet.

4. You can “run with the big dogs”: Celebrity requires a certain passion, enthusiasm and expertise that is impossible to fake. You can’t bluff your way through a 2-hour seminar - or even a 2-minute segment with a local reporter. If you’re sweating every answer, stumbling over every reply and desperate to run back to your office, people will see that and celebrity will elude you.

5. Celebrity is the next logical move: There comes a point in your career when you have gone as far as you can go without an injection of something special; being recognized as the celebrity expert in your field is something special - and then some!

They say “timing is everything,” but that’s only partly true; for me, timing is a big part of the Celebritize Yourself equation but so too are talent, drive, experience, skill, motivation, energy, enthusiasm, etc.

In other words, if you’re not ready at the right time - or not confident enough or experienced enough or passionate enough, etc. - then not only is the time not right but celebrity will continue to elude you. So, when IS the right time for you to become a celebrity? When the time is right for YOU.

Let these five signs alert you to the fact that your time might just be right now!

For 20 years Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on public relations as CEO of EMSI. Go to www.publicitythatworks.com to claim your free “Power of Public Relations” video today!

As a professional PR, I’ve never liked the way movies portray public relations people.

Usually, they’re characterized by Hollywood as slick talking flim-flam artists who promise the universe and deliver next to nothing.

And there’s a reason why Hollywood zeroes in on that rendering of PR pros - because our profession does have its share of people who are just like that. I wish it weren’t true, because the vast majority of PR professionals have integrity and work hard to earn their clients’ trust. But the bad apples do exist, and every time I hear real life stories about those kinds of PR people, it infuriates me.

I received a call the other day from a potential client who described to me her campaign that was executed by a retainer-based PR firm (and they charged a bundle) that was so shoddy and mismanaged, it cast a dark shadow over the entire profession in her mind. And, just in the past month, I had similar conversations with two other companies who also had bad experiences with PR agencies.

The sad thing is these bad experiences could have been prevented or foreseen if only the client knew what questions to ask during the hiring process. As I care very much about my profession and the people we serve, let me share some insight about what questions you should ask your PR agency BEFORE you sign on the dotted line. If you get satisfactory answers to these questions, you’ll be well along the road to a successful campaign.

“Do you have experience in my industry?” - All PR agencies are not alike, and agencies that tell you they can handle anything aren’t necessarily telling the whole truth. An agency doesn’t need to be a specialist in your particular industry, but it’s important to know something of your industry in order to understand your business. It’s essential for being able to understand the underlying news angles prevalent in your industry and in the news, and for being able to write strong pitches that represent you well to the media. You don’t want to pay for your agency’s learning curve, so make sure they have experience in your industry.

“What mediums do you specialize in? Print? Radio? TV? All of the above?” - More than 95 percent of all PR firms tend to specialize in print media. But, if your company’s message also plays well on radio or television, make sure the agency can deliver that as well. And the issues go deeper than just the type of media, but also the size of the outlets. If you want to be interviewed on talk radio shows, does the agency have contacts with high powered stations in top 100 markets, or will all your bookings be at LP (low power) stations in sparsely populated areas with few listeners.

Ask what media they specialize in, and also ask for samples of past campaigns. If they can’t show them to you, chances are you won’t get the coverage you are paying for.

“Are you a pay for performance or retainer-based agency?” - This is an important question, because retainer-based agencies work on a “best-efforts” basis, meaning you are paying for their time and skill. Your risk is that you pay their monthly fee with no guarantee you’ll get the coverage and results you were hoping for. With pay for performance agencies, you’re guaranteed the media you pay for and in some cases you’re billed as you receive coverage, mitigating your risk as the client. A pay for performance agency doesn’t make money unless you get coverage so it’s a win-win situation.

“Can you provide samples of current client campaigns?” - This “look-see” will provide you the documentation to support the agency’s promise that they are actually capable of delivering against their promises. Compare your needs to their current clients, so you can assure yourselves there is a fit. Remember that good client case studies aren’t a guarantee you’ll get the same results. However, chances are that if the agency achieved success for other clients, the odds are decent that they’ll achieve comparable success for you.

“Are you a local, regional or national agency?” - Local agencies may feature lower costs, but their media contacts are limited to their own city. This is fine if all you need is local coverage. But if your company does business nationwide, you want to hire an agency who is speaking to national media every day. An agency with national media contacts is far more preferable than an agency with a media database service that they use to “dial for dollars.” With that in mind, don’t choose an agency just because they’re located in your city and you get “face-to-face” time. What matters more is whether they meet your criteria for getting the job done.

“Who will be managing my campaign?” - With many agencies, the role of senior management is to bring in new clients, not actually execute the work. So, before you choose an agency ask about the level of experience of the person or people who will be working on your campaign. In some agencies, Account Managers are rookies fresh from college or interns playing a key role in the execution of campaigns. As an insider, I highly recommend that you ask questions about the qualifications of the team who will be handling your account.

In addition to asking these questions, make sure to choose a firm that understands your topic, has enthusiasm for your message and can communicate about it intelligently. In the end, you want a firm that you feel comfortable and confident with so you can establish a long-term working relationship.

For 20 years Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on public relations as CEO of EMSI. Go to www.publicitythatworks.com to claim your free “Power of Public Relations” video today!