Top 7 Daily Acknowledgements

#1. Acknowledge your maker. Be thankful that you have been given another day to pursue your dreams and health and energy to do so.

#2. Acknowledge your spouse with a hug, a kiss and a "I love you." The one whom you have promised to love, honor and protect. The one who has been supportive of you in all your endeavers.

#3. Acknowledge your children with a word of encouragement that they may grow up to become strong individuals. They are ones you have brought forth to carry on after you have completed your race.

#4. Acknowledge your neighbor with a friendly greeting and a kind word. As neighbors, we are here to watch over and protect each other that no harm may come to either.

#5. Acknowledge your employees/co-workers with a friendly greeting and words of support. They are ones that keep your business running smoothly.

#6. Acknowledge your suppliers with a thank you for promptness when paying your bill. Without their prompt delivery of supplies your employees could not keep your business running smoothly.

#7. And last, but certainly not least, acknowledge your customers with a friendly greeting and a big "Thank you." They are ones that pay your bills and without them you would not need employees or suppliers.

Courtesy and friendliness seem to be lubricant that makes cogs of society turn smoothly.

6)Create and deploy credible PR that isn't full of fluff; i.e. "market or cost leadership, best of breed technology, leading provider of …, high-performance, etc.; don't use terms any editor sees hundreds of times a day! Create PR that is original and truthful - you will stand out from crowd much better.

7)It's truly a Global Market! Position your company so you can work with customers all over world - if you don't have resources or personnel (see two above) then partner with a local reseller, dealer or distributor who has an established presence in a country or market which you can't serve via your corp/home office.

8)Don't waste time chasing venture capital – fund your company creatively! Venture capitalists are busy today trying to save their existing portfolio of ".bombs" so don't waste a lot of your time contacting them! Be creative, talk to friends and family about investing or look to your suppliers to give you extended terms in exchange for a long-term contract, discounted parts, etc.

9)Leverage technology to help you grow your business. A good web site should answer questions for your customers, not leave them frustrated and confused – make sure you address fundamentals with an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), or even setup instant messaging via any number of chat technology providers so people can anonymously ask your sales or c/support personnel questions while they are on your web site.

10)Ignore marketing hype and concentrate on technology that really works. Tried surfing web via your cell phone and finding a hot bistro in a new neighborhood recently? I hate to pick on this technology du jour, but it rates high on my "hypeometer" at this moment in time. There is a reason why opt-in e-mail advertising is one of best ways to reach a target market – its virtually instantaneous, is 24/7 in most cases, very targeted, provides global reach, and drum roll………it really works!

Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of marketing experience He is the co- founder of a Northern California and Brussels Belgium based, privately held, Marketing Services and Software Company, Intelective Communications, Inc. http://www.intelective.com Intelective focuses exclusively on providing services to small to medium sized companies that need strategic and tactical marketing services. He can be reached at Lee@intelective.com