Which is Better: New customers or repeat business? 

Recently we asked which was more important: new customer growth or repeat business?

The answer depends on your business goals. If you want fast-paced quantum growth, you should concentrate energy on adding new customers. But if your goals are more incremental - if you envision continual year over year growth in the 10 to 20 percent range - booking repeat customer revenue is far easier than adding new customers.

(Of course, don't lose sight of new customer acquisition; doing so entirely would doom the future of your business.)

While it is not easy to double your existing customers' spending year after year, it is easy enough to 1) keep them happy and loyal, and 2) develop additional products and services for them, which they will buy if they are happy and loyal.

How can you build loyalty and garner repeat business? With two customer words: service and communication.

Enhance the customer's service experience.

Customer service is all about fixing customer problems. What kinds of problems?

• Fixing things which are broken, or that don't work as expected.

• Facilitating deliveries, exchanges and returns.

• Resolving billing and payment issues.

• Fulfilling the exceptional need or the odd request.

• Providing technical advice and user guidance.

This last is very important because many products are so complicated they can't really work without solid service.

And that doesn't go just for technical products. It applies to self-assembled furniture - the kind you can't seem to put together based on cryptic instructions. Or home repair - consider those valuable retired plumbers in orange aprons at Home Depot. Or what about your weekend hotel stay, transformed by that special concierge into something you remember the rest of your life.

In each case customer service is a critical part of the product. And in every case, it's the part that makes customers feel great about doing business with you.

Customer Service = Repeat Business

McDonalds believes that once you successfully address a customer's complaint, that customer is several times more likely to come back and buy more Big Macs. McDonalds store managers search for problems; they long for problems; they pray for problems.

Train your people to listen closely for problems and look for things that are out of whack. Establish customer service protocols to insure those issues are dealt with quickly and completely.

Plus, your company gets a bonus for good listening: creatively solved complaints are often the genesis of new products and services. Build a system which rewards both customers and employees for those new business ideas.

Too many companies see customer service as an expense. In reality it is the most cost-effective customer retention program you could possibly have. So hire reps who want to help people and train them to spot opportunities. Use technology to make it easier to find solutions. Lavish money on it. Gather knowledge and wisdom in databases and make it available to everyone in the service chain.

Customer Communications

Continual communication is another key to building the kind of customer loyalty that translates into repeat, and increasing, business.

Here are seven ways to stay in touch with your customers.

Find out how customers are really using your products and services. Call them casually or conduct formal surveys. Visit and observe them in action. Track their online behavior. Look for ways to enhance the value they get from you.

Put yourself in front of your customers. User groups, conventions, conferences, road shows, tours, online forums, and even interactive webcasts, are viable ways to create a two-way free flowing dialogue. Give customers a deeper understanding of how you help them, and find out what's on their minds so you can serve them even better. For high-end, big-spending customers, schedule an annual review or strategy meeting to set the agenda and lock them in.

Publish a valuable newsletter. Most newsletters are filled with self-serving drivel about the company. Who cares who got promoted, or that you just had a wonderful company picnic? Fill your newsletter with stimulating ideas, case studies and practical tips that add value to your customers and help them do better business. Important to your newsletter's success is frequency and consistency, so publish often - monthly or even twice a month, and keep it on schedule.

Ask your customers the magic question: "What would you like to buy from us, if only we'd offer it to you?" Do this yourself or outsource it. Either way, these answers are like customer retention gold.

Keep your product and service offer fresh. Keep upgrading and adding on, and announce to your customers that you are doing so.

Make special offers to your special customers. And all your existing customers are special. Give them special offers and loyalty discounts that plain old new customers can't get. Make sure they know it is only for them.

Revive the art of the hand-written note. In this age of hyper-convenient email and instant messaging, a hand-written note acknowledges the unique nature of the recipient. There's just no way to duplicate the one to one feeling a note will create. Do this and you could have the customer for life!

These customer service and communications tips are just a few of the hundreds of ways to communicate with customers to build loyalty and repeat business. Combine them with judicious up-sells, re-sells, and cross-sells, and that 20 percent annual revenue growth is yours forever.

business coaching franchise system built from the ground up to rapidly create more profits and more life for entrepreneurs. Paul is also Executive Director of the Stratamax Research Institute, a business coaching and consulting firm specializing in helping entrepreneurial companies quickly increase short term profits for sustainable long term growth.

How much money do you need to spend to generate publicity about your new company? The answer may surprise you.

One of the biggest misconceptions many executives have about public relations is what it will cost them to generate news coverage about their companies. This is especially true of cash-strapped entrepreneurs who think they'll need to pay a million dollars to get a million dollars' worth of publicity about their products, services or expertise.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, the public relations "hall of fame" is full of resourceful individuals who have spent little or no money to generate reams of news coverage about their businesses.

They discovered that the size of your wallet isn't as important as the story you have to tell about your start-up. This is because all news organizations are basically storytellers. They're looking for stories to tell readers, viewers or listeners. If you can identify or create a story related to your business that might interest the public, you'll make it easier to interest news outlets in your company.

Invite the Press to a Launch Lunch

When it was ready to launch in August, 3dvillage.com, a media publishing and Internet content marketing firm in Cary, N.C., used a relatively inexpensive approach to generate press coverage. The company arranged a launch luncheon for the press at Michael Jordan's 23 restaurant in Chapel Hill. Besides free food, it had a good story to offer: a demonstration of its newly completed online interactive 3-D walking tour of Chapel Hill's historic downtown business district.

More than 40 journalists in the ResearchTrianglePark area of North Carolina were invited, says Chief Marketing Officer Greg Meluch. Their color invitations, which were placed in clear plastic champagne bottles with an inflatable globe, were hand-delivered. More than 30 journalists attended, with many preparing stories about the launch of the company and its new product.

All four major local television network news stations came to the party and did stories that evening about the site. Several local newspapers and radio stations also did stories about the event. MSNBC and CNN picked up on them and ran their own broadcasts the following weekend.

How much did 3dvillage have to spend for what was estimated to be "hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth" of media coverage? The tab, including the cost of food, came to less than $1,000, says Mr. Meluch.

With a background that includes 18 years in sales and marketing for IBM, Mr. Meluch was used to spending millions of dollars to launch a new product. But, he says, "I never received a better return on the investment of my dollars than I did for this event."

3dvillage's launch luncheon was successful because the company gave journalists a story that interested not just North Carolina residents, but anyone who follows high technology. But you don't need to feed the media to get a story done about your company. Often, you only need to send a well-written news release to reporters, editors and columnists or make sure information about your company is easily available on the Internet.

Strategic Internet Links Pay Off

Pamela Previte O'Brien, a Houston interior designer, learned the value of linking her Internet site to others after taking an interior design certification course at Lauri Ward's Use What You Have Interiors Inc. in New York City. After the course, Ms. O'Brien spent $10 on software to design a home page and linked it to Ms. Ward's Internet site.

Ms. Ward appeared on Oprah Winfrey's television show in September and mentioned her Web site. After the show, a reporter with the Fox News TV station in Houston visited the site to track down a local interior designer to interview for a story. Her research took her to Ms. O'Brien, who became the subject of a story on the Fox Morning news program. The 15-minute piece included a before-and-after case study of a family room Ms. O'Brien designed. From all the free publicity and exposure in Houston, she gained two new clients and several new business leads.

Most start-up companies operate on a shoestring budget and can't spend much on public relations and other marketing activities, says Arnold Sanow, a business-marketing consultant in Vienna, Va., and co-author of "Marketing Boot Camp" (Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 1994). But, he says, "the good news is that a company's ability to get news coverage has nothing to do with money, [and] everything to do with their ability to tell the story about their company in an interesting and compelling manner."

Three Tips to Help Tell a Story

In short, you must be a good storyteller. Here are some storytelling tips that can be implemented either for free, or for just a few hundreds dollars:

1. Prepare and send a news release

Write a short (two-page) release about the launch of your company that includes the basic information reporters want: who, what, when, where, why and how. At the top of the release, include a short, attention-getting headline and your phone, fax, and e-mail information so reporters can contact you.

Prepare the release as if it were a story that was actually published in your local newspaper. Don't send text that's a reformatted version of an ad, brochure or your company's mission statement. Identify or create the strongest possible story angle or news hook for your news release. One company spent $1,500 to purchase two questions on a national public opinion poll related to its business. Highlighting the results of the poll in the news release helped draw attention to the company's announcement.

Distribute the news release electronically via PR Newswire or Business Wire, two private news release distribution services. For about $500, any company can have releases sent electronically to thousands of news organizations nationwide. While this may seem expensive, you'll ensure that many journalists know about the launch of your new business.

Use a company such as Media Distribution Service based in New York City to send your release via mail, fax or e-mail to a list of targeted reporters who are likely be most interested in doing a story based on your news release.

Post a copy of the release on your Web site. The Internet quickly has become an important research tool for reporters. If you publish the release on your home page, an even larger audience will see the announcement.

Phone news organizations that you hope will do a story about your start-up. Ask to speak to the editor or reporter who would most likely be interested. When you reach him or her, briefly explain your story and why you think it's important to the audience.

Identify or create visuals that will help demonstrate an aspect of your company, whether it's a chart, graph, logo or pictures that show your product or service being used. Visuals are essential if you hope to get a story on TV about your firm. They also can illustrate print articles.

2. Become a resource to the media

Journalists are always looking for experts in various areas. For an annual fee that depends on the size of your organization, you can be listed as an "expert" on a database maintained by ProfNet. ProfNet members also receive regular e-mail notifications about journalists seeking qualified individuals to interview for their stories. (If you doubt that ProfNet works, contact Greg Meluch and Pamela Previte O'Brien, who responded to a query posted on ProfNet seeking entrepreneurs to interview for this story)

Ask newspapers or magazines that you want to cover your company for a copy of their editorial calendars. These are published lists describing the content of upcoming issues or special sections. Depending on the subject matter of these stories, you might make a good source for the reporter. If so, call the editor or reporter working on the article, explain your expertise and offer to be a resource. You also can send a brief memo to editors and reporters at news organizations where you seek coverage and explain which topics you're qualified to discuss if they need experts.

3. Be prepared when reporters call

Don't be caught off guard if a reporter calls to interview you about your new company. Make a list of three or four important points to touch on during an interview and find ways to repeat them during the interview. Also list the questions a reporter might ask about your start-up, and be sure you can answer each one appropriately.

Once your first story about your product or service appears, don't be shy about letting people know about it. Place the article on your Web site and send copies to media contacts. You may be surprised how many reporters become interested once they see other news organizations do stories about your firm.

It doesn't cost much to implement these suggestions. Many companies find that the return on small investments in PR pay off handsomely as stories about them or their companies are read, watched or heard by potential customers. Given the stock market's current jitters, it may be the best investment you can make to help ensure the success of your start-up.

-- Mr. Segal, author of "Getting Your 15 Minutes of Fame, and More!" (John Wiley, 2000), conducts media training, presentation skills and effective public-relations strategy workshops for entrepreneurs. His Web site is www.publicrelations.com.

Email your comments to sjeditor@dowjones.com.

When you get new customers, do you know what happens to them? Are they thrown into a sea of impolite customer service representatives and employees? Are they getting the high-quality product or service you promised them?

New sales are but a small part of a successful business. While new customers are important, actually critical, to every business, properly managing and retaining customers form the real backbone of business success. Everyone, from the sales staff to the front-line customer service representatives to the CEO, should concern themselves with customer satisfaction and customer management. All employees, regardless of their primary job duties, are responsible for promoting and representing the business. Therefore, employees often are the most effective, and inexpensive, sales tools.

Failing to properly manage customers and maintain customer satisfaction extends far beyond the loss of the affected client. Once they are gone, so too are the people they know -- your potential future customers.

Maintaining current customers and establishing future customers is why every business should implement a solid customer management and retention program. Your program should have the following goals:

1. Maintain customer satisfaction.
This is the most important element; all others depend on it. The inability to satisfy customers quickly results in the loss of a customer base for a business and soon after that, the loss of the business. First of all, make sure you have a quality product or service. Next, ensure your business and employees are easy to deal with and polite. The words, "thank you," go a long way. Empower your customers and ask them questions to make sure their needs are met and they are fully satisfied. After all, dissatisfied customers tell seven to ten people, while satisfied customers only tell an average of one person. Also, give your employees a "script" they can use to talk about your product or service. "When we talk about our service to other people, they want to know these things..." Case studies show a broad history of a quality product or service, rather than a laundry list of "we do this, we do that." Stories are more personal and show the value of your product or service in a real life context.

2. Resolve customer problems and disputes.
No one wants a hassle -- and that goes for your employees as much as your customers. Implement a system whereby front-line employees can resolve issues quickly and painlessly. Provide front-line employees with the ability to make customers happy. Oftentimes, when a situation has to go to the manager, the manager is often more likely to simply give items away to get the customer off the phone. Unfortunately, while this may resolve the situation, it does little to regain customer satisfaction and trust. Front-line employees, on the other hand, have the necessary information to put the problem into its proper context and are better able to appropriately address the issue. Teach employees how to be active listeners and affirm what's true. At times, it may be necessary to reset expectations... "I understand your expectation, but some other customers see it this way..." If a customer simply is unreasonable, or becomes abusive, it's acceptable to tell them to take their business elsewhere. However, if this seems to happen too often, it may be a sign your product and service are in need of rehabilitation.

3. Keep 'em coming back.
Stay in contact with your customers so you can ask for a reorder and renew the value of your product. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to resell your product or service, and remind them why they came to you in the first place. "When we first talked, you told me ... Is that still true? Did we deliver on that? What's important now?" Reorders are much more profitable than new business since there is no customer acquisition cost. You might even have some leverage to offer a discount.

4. Ask for referrals.
Referrals are a business owner's best friend and perhaps the best affirmation of customer satisfaction. When the opportunity presents itself, ask customers for referrals. And when possible, put current customers and future prospects (and referral partners) in a room together, such as at a holiday party or a sporting event. Simply buying lunch for a group of customers so they can talk about your service or product is an excellent way to expand your business as well. It's actually a pretty small world when you're willing to venture into it, and referrals make it even smaller and more manageable. Incentives for referrals offer a progressive business strategy. While monetary rewards such as referral fees can be effective, they also impact your bottom line. Consider non-monetary rewards such as additional products or services you offer.

The importance of management is nothing new to business. However, the art of managing your customers, in addition to your employees, often is overlooked. Effective customer management and retention are vital to a successful and profitable business. Keep your eyes open for future customers but don't forget your current customers -- loyalty is often rewarded.

BLFarris@AnchorAdvisors.com or visit www.AnchorAdvisors.com.

Are you tired of prospecting for new business?

Are you sick of networking, begging for referrals, or spending a small fortune on advertisements that produce little results?

Wouldn't it be nice if you could just sit down at your desk and have the phone ring knowing that new business is on the other end of the line?

Who wouldn't, right...?

The Secret Formula for Getting People to Call You
No matter what product or service you sell, there is a formula for getting people to call you (instead of the other way around.)

Let me take a moment and explain each step in this formula and give you a few examples of how it works...

Step 1. Interrupt Their Train of Thought
People are busy, busy, busy. At any one moment you and I have a thousand things going on. So the first step to effectively market to someone is to interrupt them and grab their attention.

You can do this with...

1. Bold, compelling headlines
2. Unusual graphics or photos
3. Unique opening statements

I run an ad in a trade mag in the most competitive section of the publication. But my ad sticks out like a sore thumb because I place it UPSIDE DOWN!

That ad pulls as much as a quarter page ad does and it's only a tiny little 2' x 2' ad.

(By the way, if you want to see that ad and you have in interest in coaching you can find it in my Coaches' Marketing Bootcamp package.)

Step 2. Engage Their Mind With Relevant Content
Once you have your prospects attention, the next step is to pull them into your message. The best way to do that is to use relevant content.

By that I mean, say something that they would be keenly interested in. For instance, I have no interest in cats so I would skip right over the headline, "How to Stop Your Cat from Ripping Your Couch and Carpet Apart."

It's not relevant to me.

But if I saw a headline that said, "The Deal Is Sealed...Shaq Gets Traded," that would stop me in my tracks (I'm a basketball nut).

Your message must be relevant to your prospect.

Step 3. Educate Them On How to Solve Their Problem
Now it's time to educate your prospect. Education-Based Marketing is one of the most powerful marketing strategies available today and does a number of positive things for you:

1. It gives your prospect the REASON WHY they should care about what you're saying.
2. It appeals to the prospect's emotional need to solve their problem. (People buy with their emotions)
3. It positions you as the expert and someone to be trusted.

For instance, why do you think you find all those long, long sales letters on the net? Because they work! The more you tell the more you sell.

Step 4. Prove That Your Solution Actually Works
People today are so SKEPTICAL. No one believes anybody anymore. Every marketing message is taken with a grain of salt.

That's why you MUST PROVE what you're saying is true. Proof can come through customer success stories, study findings, quotes from experts, before and after photos etc.

You have to consider yourself as being on trial and your prospects are sitting in the jury box. You've got to prove to them what you're saying is true.

Are you proving your solution in your marketing efforts?

Step 5. Offer Them Additional Help For their Problem
The last step is to naturally offer your prospect additional help. Up to this point you've only teased them. Now you must lead them to the next step.

The next step should be some offer for help. This could be a free report, a video, an audio program (notice that I like low cost information products) or a free catalog, or even access to a free question and answer help line.

If you want to decrease your response and increase the quality of prospects that come to you, you can charge a small fee to make the next step.

A Live Case Study
I used to do a lot of direct response advertising to generate leads for potential hot tub buyers.

I offered a free video to the respondents. We were getting a lot of leads, but many of them were from people who already owned a hot tub (if you can believe that).

So we simply asked for a shipping fee of $2.95 for the video and it cut down our leads but dramatically increased our closing rate.

How to Use this Process for Your Own Purposes
You might be thinking, thanks David, but "how" do I use this information for my own business.

It's simple...take each step and ask yourself these questions...

Step 1 - "What headline, photo, or gimmick can I use that would stop my unique prospect and make them pause for a moment?"

Step 2 - "What problem does my prospect have that is painful, ugly, dirty, and smelly?" When you have the answer to that question, use it in a headline, sub headline or opening statement to engage them in your message.

Step 3 - "How can I make the problem in Step 2 sound even worse and then how can I explain to them how my solution solves it."

Step 4 - "What proof can I come up with that my solution actually works and has worked for many companies (or people)?"

Step 5 - "What offer can I come up with that would be so irresistible that my prospects would have to pick up the phone and call me immediately?"

If you ask yourself these five questions and can come up with some good answers then you're well on your way to getting people to chase you down instead of you begging to steal a moment of their time. (Yuck!)

Copyright 2005 David Frey

I am always amazed by business owners who say that they can't spend any money on advertising. Many of them validate that idea by saying, "Besides, most of my business is by referral." Building a business based on repeat and referral business is admirable. It simply means that clients are so pleased with the value of the product or service they receive on a consistent basis, that they become "cheerleaders" for that company. Consistency is the key word.

If a company combines a strong, branded advertising campaign to an already strong marketing and service program, that becomes the foundation for a successful business. I use the example of a three legged stool. One leg is your product or service, the second leg is your marketing and advertising and the third is the customer service you or your employees offer, all on a consistent basis. If any one of the legs has a "weakness," the stool is going to wobble.

Have you ever had a wobbly table or stool in your home? You probably tried to fix it by putting something under it to stabilize it. It was just a "band-aid" and not a true correction. It fixes the problem for a while, but sooner or later it will start to wobble again and at that point you probably say it is time to replace it.

Customers will be happy to be a cheerleader for you if you are consistent in how you run your business. After all, their reputation of referring a good company is on the line. Each of us has the ability to recommend or discredit a company based on past experiences. What is more important is that we have a circle of contacts that could either become a referral stream or a business choker.

Companies would be smart to study the three following statements and focus on how that could affect your "word of mouth advertising."

1. You don't know who I know!
I am in the midst of selling a home. I think I would rather have brain surgery than go through this again. I have bought and sold 5 houses in my life and this has been the worst. I firmly believe that the job of a real estate person is to make the job of "selling" the house as easy as possible. That is, if they are willing to do the work to make things happen seamlessly.

I chose my real estate person because her name was everywhere in my town; mistake number one. Mistake number two was that I didn't interview at least three potential agents to find out what their plans would be to sell my home in the shortest amount of time. Her focus is on how many houses she can list and not the service she could offer in order to make me a happy customer. I have told everyone I know that I would never use her if I had to do it all over again.

Unhappy customers like to tell other people and that is a fact. 95% of unhappy customers leave a business because of uncaring employees. Unfortunately, I have a binding contract and I am stuck. I have a reputation of being the person to call when you need just about anything because everyone knows what I do for a living. You can imagine how many people I can influence with just one sentence. Now the question is, what will that sentence sound like?

Do your employees realize the importance of treating each and ever customer like they have a golden tongue? They can build your reputation or ruin it with the words, "I wouldn't use anyone else but..." The question is, "Is your name the one that follows the word "but"?

2. I don't know who YOU know!
Every business owner loves to hear a client say that they were referred by another happy customer! Day after day you probably have new customers walking through your doors who were referred and you didn't know it!

So how can we increase that number? One simple word, "ask"! A basic sales class will teach you that if you don't ask for the sale you won't get it. So why don't we ask for referrals? We are scared of the answer "I don't know anyone." That is like asking a person the age old question "May I help you?" You know the answer is going to be "No, I'm just looking."

I recommend changing the request to: "Mrs. Smith, I know you have shopped here a long time. I hope that you will mention our name when one of your friends is looking for ..." Better yet, tell Mrs. Smith that for every third person she refers who come in and actually buy, you will give her 25% off her next purchase!

Everyone knows someone who can use what you offer at some time. The point is to use your own mouth and become a shameless self promoter! Just ask!

3. Have a "Super Bowl" commercial!
Do you remember what kind of hype occurs just before the Super Bowl? Football, yes; but the biggest hype is about the commercials during the game. There are teasers before the game and then there are "arm chair quarterbacks" critiquing the commercials on the early news channels on Monday morning. So what makes them so important? They are memorable and they are repeatable.

That's where big business and small business owners differ. Big businesses realize that if you are out of sight you are out of mind. They spend billions on advertising to make sure you don't forget. If I said the words, Target, Dell, Wal-Mart, McDonald's and gave you crayons and asked you to draw their logos, you probably could without even having an artistic background. Those logos are embedded in our brains. Strategically executed like a well run battle plan!

However, you may be saying; "I'm not one of the 'big guns' and I could never begin to develop an advertising plan like that." You probably can't. But what you can do is create a 30-second commercial that perfectly describes what you do so that your "cheerleaders" can repeat it to everyone they know.

Here is an example. I have a favorite restaurant in my town that I love to recommend. When anyone asks where I think they should go to eat, I become the biggest cheerleader for this family owned restaurant. I say, "You have to go to _____because they have the best cold salmon salad that will ever pass through your lips and the atmosphere and service are unbeatable." If you just screwed up your nose when I said salmon, then how about the hot apple pie and cinnamon ice cream dessert that is to die for.

Each and every one of us has done commercials for businesses that we like to do business with. What do you do that is unique or different that makes you and your business memorable. If you could eavesdrop on a conversation between one of your satisfied customers and a potential client, how would they describe you and what you do?

You'd be surprised the different ways people would describe your business. The question is, are they pin-pointing what you want to be known for? If not, then maybe your "Super Bowl" commercial isn't memorable enough. Work on a sentence that describes you or your business and practice saying it whenever you meet someone who asks; "so tell me about your business." I once worked with a financial planner who said that people walked the other way when he told them what he did. I said, "Why don't you tell people that you help them sleep better at night." He really looked puzzled, but the end result of managing your finances well is that you probably will sleep better at night. It also was a definite conversation starter!

You may not have the million dollar advertising budget, but you could have word of mouth advertising that affects millions.

Let's say you attend a business function. You meet a top tier prospect, and give her your card. As you are driving home, you realize that twenty other people may have approached that prospect and presented their business cards. So what will make your card stand out from the collected stack?

Here are twelve ways to assure that prospects will read your card, and will become more likely to do business with you.

ONE: Keep your card "reader friendly" by providing ample white space. Unfortunately, we are tempted to jam as much information on the card as the printer can squeeze in.

However, people don't want to bog down by reading lengthy paragraphs. Note how short this one is, and the one before it. Easy to read, don't you think?

TWO: Display your photo on your card. Think what happens when the prospect you met at the reception flips through the cards she collected. Which people will she remember most easily? The ones with photos, of course. For many years, real estate pros have acted on this assumption, and they are right.

An important caution: Be sure to use a recent picture, no more than five years old. The person who uses an outdated picture raises suspicion. What else about them is obsolete or misrepresented?

NOTE: Recently I had a photographer take a new photo of me, which I will put on my business card and Web site soon.

THREE: Stick with a standard size. You want your card to fit the card collections others maintain. An odd-shaped card might be tossed away as too cumbersome to keep.

FOUR: Never economize on paper stock. The dollars you save won't compare with the dollars you will miss out on because prospects think you may be second rate, like your card.

FIVE: Spend what is needed to include color. Think about it-how many of your potential clients have black and white TV, cameras and magazines?

Avoid psychedelic colors unless you are a designer, artist or entertainer. Your color photo will reflect a warm, vivid personality, so there's no need to shock the senses of readers.

SIX: Include your slogan. My company slogan identifies my purpose: "Helping you finish in first place!" Six words are enough--if they are the right words.

SEVEN: If you have a logo, use it. Picture this in your mind: "Golden Arches." Know the product? I am sure you do. Did you salivate? Probably so. That's the power of symbols.

My logo is a winner's trophy, which fits my motto of helping organizations and individuals finish first. Matches my company name as well: Championship Communication.

EIGHT: Tell readers how to contact you by phone, fax, mail and Internet. This sounds elementary, yet you would be surprised at how many marketers omit this essential data.

NINE: Keep your card current, by printing new ones when you change your office location, phone number or e-mail address. When someone gives you a business card with a new number added in pen, you rate their work second class, or worse.

TEN: Use both sides of your card for information. No need to let half the space go unutilized.

Many professionals put their mission statement on the reverse side, and show it to prospects when they meet with them.

ELEVEN: When you give your card to a prospective client, don't offer just one. Instead, ask: "How many of these will you need, to share with your staff?"

You will be amazed at how many more cards you will put into circulation with this simple question.

TWELVE: You may want to distribute more than one card, with each card reflecting a different service you offer. Several years ago, a retired executive handed me three business cards, each representing a new venture he had launched, with distinct services offered.