Tips on staying in contact with your existing and prospective clients.

1.      Publish a newsletter for customers and prospects (it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive). Develop a brochure of services.

2.      Include a postage-paid survey card with your brochures and other company literature. Include check-off boxes or other items that will involve the reader and provide valuable feedback to you.

3.      Remember, business cards aren't working for you if they're in the box. Pass them out! Give prospects two business cards and brochures - one to keep and one to pass along.

4.      Produce separate business cards/sales literature for each of your target market segments (e.g. government and commercial and/or business and consumer).

5.      Create a poster or calendar to give away to customers and prospects.

6.      Print a slogan and/or one-sentence description of your business on letterhead, fax cover sheets, and invoices. Develop a site on the World Wide Web.

7.      Create a signature file to be used for all your e-mail messages. It should contain contact details, including your Web site address and key information about your company that will make the reader want to contact you.

8.      Include testimonials from customers in your literature.

9.      Test a new mailing list. If it produces results, add it to your current direct mail lists or consider replacing a list that's not performing up to expectations.

10.  Rather than sending direct mail in plain white envelopes, use colored or over sized envelopes to pique recipients' curiosity.

11.  Announce free or special offers in your direct response pieces. (Direct responses may be direct mail, broadcast faxes, or e-mail messages.) Include the offer in the beginning of the message as well as on the outside of the envelope for direct mail.