PUSH TACTICS – ‘You’ centered Do your marketing materials 1. Focus on you, your services and staff? 2. Focus on glowing testimonials and your client list? 3. Use business speak, instead of language that anyone would understand?

Which works best? Both. The challenge is getting emphasis and order right. The push then pull marketing sequence that works to move your business forward involves following:

1. Create resources that pull prospects to you and your firm 2. Get prospects to give you their contact information (Most firms let over 99% of people who see their information go away and never follow up) 3. Push useful information out to self-selected prospects on a regular basis. (Remember majority of buyers won't make a purchase until they've had a minimum of 5-6 contacts with your firm.)

When your prospects have a compelling need, they will turn to firm that they’ve had regular communication with, know and trust. At some point prospects will want more details about your services, credentials and testimonials. But this is often last information you need to provide.

Use pull then push strategy to get your marketing moving. You'll be amazed as you watch both your prospect and client lists grow and your business gains momentum. ==================================================

2003 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

The author, Marketing Coach, Charlie Cook, helps independent professionals and small business owners who are struggling to pull in more clients.

Jack wanted to know how I could help. Looking at his mutual fund choices I realized that they were actually pretty decent, and he had a variety of some 13 funds. So, what was problem and how could we solve it? In a way, answer was simple. But people were having to get pretty beat up before they would see it.

My first step was, with Jack's permission, to log on to his 401k web site. Then I started making some adjustments. Since my trend tracking model was still in a Sell mode, I liquidated all of his positions and moved proceeds into money market. This accomplished one thing right away: He stopped losing money. When you stop moving backward, in relation to everyone else you are moving forward!

Second, as my trend index moved into a Buy mode on April 29, 2003, I researched his funds again. Based on strong momentum figures, I invested in two of his mutual fund choices. The result was very gratifying: funds I chose moved up around 10% in two months after my Buy. (Other funds I had tracked and selected for other types of investment programs moved up as much as 26% in that period.)

Jack’s been happy ever since. While 10% appreciation is not as great as I was able to do with assets outside his 401k, it still confirms that key to successful investing is methodology and discipline. Our disciplined approach relies on objective information. It disregards Wall Street hype designed to perpetuate commission-rich buy now while it's low, or buy and hold strategies.

If you have been in a situation similar to Jack's, or you want to avoid being in one, find an investment advisor who bases his decisions on a measured and objective approach. That will give you edge no matter whether market is going up or down and will give you greatest protection from sad stories with your 401k.