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More and more companies of all sizes have a lot of focus on branding themselves.  Now I don’t mean with a hot branding iron.  I mean that they have created something that makes them stand out from their competitors.

Be it a specific type of product, a logo, specific colors denoting their business or a reputation of how they treat their customers.  Any one or all of those things can signify branding.

What is it for your business?  Does your logo never change and is it incorporated into everything you use for advertising and promotions, kind of like McDonald’s Golden Arches?

Do you have a specific and unique color scheme for your company that lets people know at a glance that it’s you, like Century 21′s yellow and black?

Perhaps you have a reputation of always taking the time to remember, thank and appreciate your customers for giving you their hard earned money and right now we do know that it is HARD EARNED.

Whatever your branding is be sure to keep it up until it becomes a part of who your company is.  You want people to know that when they see that color, when they hear that jingle or when they hear your name that they think of you right away and that it is in a positive light.
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About The Author:

	Mike Liddicoat is a Husband, Father, Speaker and the Sales & Marketing Director of AttaBoy! Solutions. His goal is to help businesses maintain relationships, ensure future business and acquire new referrals through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.
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So, the Holiday Season is upon us.  We start to think about all the people we need to get gifts for, kids, grand kids, aunts, uncles, parents, the list seems endless.

How do we determine what to get those people, especially when we may not see them too often and don’t really know their likes or dislikes?  For some of those people on your list you probably know enough about them that you have a pretty good idea of what they want or need.  For the others you could guess, but the best way is to ask.  Ask their parents or spouses or friends.

The most important thing is to put some thought into what you buy.  To just go out and grab something off the shelf because you need to get them something is a waist of your money and they won’t appreciate it.  I know I know, it’s the thought that counts, right?  Wrong!  The only thought that counts is if they think you actually cared about what you were getting them.

Here’s my thought.  Do a little home work and find out what your recipient wants or could use.  Giving something that they want but would never buy for themselves or something that they can use as a family is always a good route to take.  Take the time to know their tastes, decoration style and hobbies.

Let me tell you a story.  One year my wife and I were given an Asian style vase.  It was colorful and beautiful but it did not go with ANYTHING we had in our home.  I was ready to pack it in the back of a closet but my wife, bless her heart, chose to put it on a shelf next to some other nick nacks.  As you have probably guessed it came from someone on her side of the family.  I would have appreciated a simple card more than the vase because the card would have taken some though and consideration while the vase appeared to be something that was just grabbed at the last minute.

It is the thought that counts, the recipients thoughts.  Do they think you really cared or think you were just grabbing any old thing to give to them so you didn’t show up empty handed?

This year take time to put thought and consideration in the gifts you give, be it for family, friend or business.  Your thoughtfulness will be appreciated.

Have a Happy Holiday.
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About The Author:

	Mike Liddicoat is a Husband, Father, Speaker and the Sales & Marketing Director of AttaBoy! Solutions. His goal is to help businesses maintain relationships, ensure future business and acquire new referrals through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.
Contact Mike

Whether you are looking to create a bigger list of prospects or generate an increase in your company sales, contests are a great catalyst to accomplishing your goals.

Contests come in many forms and can be done both online and off. The possibilities are endless. Below are just a few ideas to get you started:

Drawings – entrance requires a form to be filled out that just includes a name and email address. You can always ask for more later, but asking for alot of personal information up front will reduce your entries.

Q & A – ask a simple question that must be answered in order for an entry to qualify. Again, do not ask for more than a name and email address (and of course the answer to the question). When using Q & A online, changing the question daily will encourage people to come back. They return daily to have another entry in the contest, but they will also return for the question!

Trivia – this type of question requires more thought. You may ask something related to your business. This may reduce the number of entries you receive compared to a simple drawing and because the answer is specific to your business, it may discourage some. You can, however, choose to be more general in your question.

Scavenger Hunt – hide graphics or a specific word on different pages within your website. Provide clues from one item to the next. Don’t make them too hard or people will give up. If you provide good clues people will be able to keep moving all around your site to find them all. You can make things even more interesting by placing a letter on each graphic and requiring that the contestant unscramble the letters to form a word.

Running a contest can be a great traffic booster, a way to grow your subscriber base and can also increase sales. Once you have decided which type of contest your are going to run and have put all the details together, be sure to get the the word out to your customers and prospects and through social media. And don’t forget to publicize the winner once the contest is over. You will surely be happy with the results you receive.
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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

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Oh no, it’s happened again, you have been invited to another wedding. The first thing that goes through my mind is “What the heck am I going to get them?” It’s true that a lot of couples do a gift registry at local high dollar stores, but this doesn’t mean that you have to shop only at those locations or stick to the list they have created. On the contrary, while it might be nice to help them complete that china set that will never be used or adorn their counter with that 27 slice toaster, that list is not a rule it’s more of a guideline.

Some of the best gifts that I have received or given were ones that came from the heart. Gifts that showed that some thought was behind it, that you found something unique that showed you were wishing them a happy life together.

Now don’t think you have to spend every waking hour and several weeks, disrupting your whole life just to find the perfect gift. Just the opposite, with the ease and convenience of on-line shopping you can order, have it sent to you or the couple and in some cases even have it gift wrapped for you all while sitting in your office having coffee.

Remember, you should bring the gift to the wedding or reception. If you are not able to attend the wedding it is still a good idea to send a gift.
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About The Author:

	Mike Liddicoat is a Husband, Father, Speaker and the Sales & Marketing Director of AttaBoy! Solutions. His goal is to help businesses maintain relationships, ensure future business and acquire new referrals through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.
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Consumer opinion is vital for any company. Whether you are launching a new service or product line, it’s important to know how your clients and prospective customers will react. However, it can be difficult to get people to spend time taking a survey. When you need the feedback and timing is of the essence, sometimes using an incentive is just the thing you need to add extra mileage to a survey campaign.

There are several way to put this type of program in place. The determining factor for which you choose should be determined by your business and how it operates. Obviously, the best would have an end result of the customer walking in to your location to claim their reward. This gives you an opportunity to “WoW” them and offer that personal interaction that is so important to have between the customer and your staff. Personal interaction plays a big part in helping to build a quality relationship. Another great way is to provide a ‘code’ that could be redeemed on your website once the survey information has been submitted. This is a great way to drive traffic and give your customer another chance to browse your offerings.

The number of ideas that could be outlined here are only limited by your creativity. Likewise, the types of rewards offered for completing the survey are unlimited. They need to be quality, yet should not be too expensive. Remember, a very successful survey with a lot of responses could get very costly very fast. However, the information you will gain is invaluable!
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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

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With Father’s Day drawing near it doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot, or any money, to show dad that he is appreciated. It’s a perfect time to tell Dad how much you care. Here are some ways for the kids to save money for dad’s special day:

Father’s Day CD

How about this, take some time and you and the kids make a collection of some of dad’s favorite music. Then burn them onto a CD and create a custom label and name it something fun like “Disco Dad’s Greatest Hits”. You will have fun and he will get a kick out of it.

Fun Dad Coupons

What are some of the things dad does around the house? Perhaps you can create some personalized hand decorated, or computer generated coupons to give him for things like: a ten minute massage, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, cleaning the garage, dad’s night to pick a movie, etc. You can have a lot of fun with this, coloring, gluing pictures or glitter, using crayons or markers or creating a coupon book to keep them in.

Dad’s Fun Day

Plan out a fun day for dad. Playing family games, working on a family project, going swimming, playing catch, whatever you know dad will enjoy doing but he never seems to make the time to do. Quality family time is a gift any dad will love.
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About The Author:

	Mike Liddicoat is a Husband, Father, Speaker and the Sales & Marketing Director of AttaBoy! Solutions. His goal is to help businesses maintain relationships, ensure future business and acquire new referrals through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.
Contact Mike