Tighten Your Belts: G. Michael Moebs
Corrections or additions?
These articles were prepared for the February 7,
2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
E-mail Direct Marketing
Any business with a direct marketing campaign could
benefit from adding E-mail direct marketing to paper mailings. But
reaching potential customers via cyberspace is not without its
pitfalls.
Robert Bly, author of Internet Direct Mail, offers advice on
making E-mail direct marketing pay when he speaks to the Business
Marketing Association of New Jersey on Tuesday, February 13, at 6
p.m. at the Newark Airport Marriott. Cost: $25. Call Erica
Littig
at 609-409-5600.
"The cost of direct E-mail is lower and response rates are
higher,"
Bly says, succinctly summing up the reasons why the new direct
marketing
channel is worth a try. "Also," Bly adds, "It’s
faster."
A paper direct mail campaign typically takes two months from
conception
through approval, Bly says. Add more time for the marketing letters
to be sent out, carried the last mile by a postal employee, and
opened.
An E-mail direct marketing solicitation, on the other hand, can be
composed in minutes and zapped out instantaneously.
Bly, a graduate of the University of Rochester (Class of 1979) who
has made a living as a freelance copywriter since 1982, says E-mail
direct marketing is especially well suited for some products. He tells
of a client, Cabot newsletters, that did very well using the marketing
technique to promote newsletter subscriptions. "They were selling
a newsletter subscription on Internet stocks," Bly says. "It
was a natural."
Bly, who works from an office in Dumont, offers these tips for getting
started in E-mail direct marketing, and for avoiding common traps:
companies
that have and use an active website," Bly says. For these
companies,
he says, "It’s one of the most effective tools." Embed the
website address into the E-mail solicitation and interested prospects
"click and they’re right there."
Bly says, but the number of lists of target prospects has "grown
phenomenally in the past two years." Lists are available from
about 12 major brokers. They are not hard to find, Bly says. A list
of E-mail brokers is on his website (www.bly.com).
saves paper and postage and eliminates the charges of "letter
shops" that send out mailers, the cost of obtaining lists of
prospects
is higher. "Internet direct mail lists are expensive," Bly
says. "They cost $100 to $200 per thousand." This compares,
he says, with charges of $75 to $150 per thousand for lists of
physical
mailing addresses.
E-mail marketers rent the lists, and the lists’ owners take care of
transmission. Some don’t charge to send out the bulk E-mailings, but
others charge from $50 to $100 a thousand.
In composing a solicitation, business owners need to keep in mind
how quickly ‘Net surfers click their "delete" buttons. Start
with a strong subject line, Bly says, and keep it under 60 characters:
"The shorter the better." Embed your business’ website
address,
its URL, high up in the message, in the first or second sentence.
And then repeat the URL, but only once. "Some people put it in
there 10 or 12 times," Bly says, but that just clutters up the
message without improving response rates.
people make," Bly says, "is putting the word `Free’ into their
messages." This is so, he explains, because many people on the
Internet use spam filters to block out solicitations. "Free"
is a sure tip off that the E-mail is an advertisement.
not as a stand alone transforming force, but as another tool.
"It’s
just a supplement," he says of E-mail direct marketing. "It’s
complementary."
"Two years ago, I used to think print was dead," Bly says.
And not just for direct marketing. "Think about it," he says.
"Some guy gets into a car and throws newspapers on the lawn. How
barbaric is that?" Barbaric or not, whether for news or marketing
materials, print is not going to go away in our lifetimes, Bly is
sure. But smart businesses will augment print with an Internet
presence,
and E-mail marketing can be an important part of that cyber strategy.
— Kathleen McGinn Spring
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Alternative Science Careers
<B>Tom Vasicek has traveled from the lab up to a
top executive spot with Internet startup LabSeek, a Minneapolis-based
exchange for laboratory outsourcing and services. Vasicek will talk
about the twists and turns his career has taken when he speaks on
"Alternative Careers in Science: From Tools for Drug Discovery
to Advancing Science Worldwide" at the monthly meeting of the
Princeton Section ACS on Tuesday, February 13, at 5:30 p.m. at the
Frick Chemistry Laboratory at Princeton University. Dinner follows
at Prospect House at 6:45 p.m. Cost: dinner, $20; lecture, free. Call
609-258-5202.
Vasicek, chief scientific officer for LabSeek, a company that uses
the Internet to connect customers with laboratory services and
consulting.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from MIT and a Ph.D. in
genetics from Harvard. Responsible for discovering the second human
gene on record, he also discovered a key gene in Siamese twinning.
Vasicek began his career in academic molecular biology research, moved
to gene discovery in the pharmaceutical industry, and then onto a
management role at LabSeek.
Using the turns his own career has taken — all within the world
of science — Vasicek will talk about alternative careers available
to scientists. Vasicek began his career in academic molecular biology
research, moved to gene discovery in the pharmaceutical industry,
and then onto a management role at LabSeek.
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Third World
On Wednesday, February 7, at 5:30 p.m.Jeanne-Marie
Col, an 11-year veteran of the United Nations, will address the
American Society for Public Administration New Jersey Chapter’s joint
dinner meeting with AGA on Improving Third World Governments. The
dinner will be held at Mastoris at the intersection of Route 130 and
Route 206. Cost: $25 for members, $30 for non-members. Call
609-298-1884.
Col coordinates a global program for the integration of public
administration
and the science of disasters. Her talk will center on her view that
failures in governance and public administration account for many
of the weaknesses in governments in developing countries and societies
in transition. Using experiences from her years with the U.N., Coll
also will highlight some of the best practices found at global,
national,
and local levels.
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MCCC in Hopewell
Mercer County Community College’s continuing education
division has four courses in personal finance, all taught by certified
financial planners, at Hopewell Valley Central High School. Call
609-586-9446.
better long-term tax decisions. Among the questions that will be
addressed:
Are you paying more in taxes than you have to? How can you avoid
losing
a significant portion of your 401 (k) and IRA savings to income taxes
when you retire? The two-session course starts on Tuesday, February
13, at 7 p.m. Cost: $32.
building
a stock portfolio for either the long-term or short-term investor.
The course will provide analysis and technical trading techniques.
Participants will assess their risk tolerance and arrive at a personal
strategy for a successful portfolio. The four-session course begins
on Thursday, February 15, at 7 p.m. Cost: $80.
of mutual funds, the risks involved, and the qualities of the top
performers. A financial planner will help participants learn to
differentiate
between open end and closed end funds, to buy mutual funds at a
discount,
and to avoid taxes on gains. The three-session course begins on
Wednesday,
March 14, at 7:10 p.m. Cost: $48.
Total Investment Management is designed for experienced
investors
who wish to refresh their investment skills. The course will enable
participants to identify the proper portfolio for their needs,
including
tax-free investments, stocks and bonds, mutual funds and more. The
four-session course begins on Tuesday, April 17, at 7:10. Cost: $80.
February 14
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Tighten Your Belts: G. Michael Moebs
Making a commitment to control expenses is the first
and hardest step, says Michael Moebs, a Chicago-based
consultant.
For the New Jersey Bankers Association, Moebs speaks on "Expense
Control & Fees for CEOs, CFOs, and COOs," on Wednesday, February
14, at 9:30 a.m. at the Eatontown Sheraton. His workshop will include
topics of particular interest to bankers: how to double fee income
for consumer checking, how to adjust the pricing triad (fees vs. rates
vs. balances) and how to reduce fees and increase the bottom line.
Cost: $300. Call 609-924-5550.
The next steps in controlling expenses: Divide workers into small
units that they feel they own. Keep track of how well each unit is
doing, and compare yourself to your peers using expense to asset
ratios,
not expense to revenue ratios. Classify and rank-order expenses by
category.
Then work with those categories. Plan to frequently inspect your
short-term
controllable expenses that make up the bulk of your budget. Inspect
less frequently the long-term controllable expenses. "Identify
why you are good or bad at controlling a particular expense category,
and emphasize the good," he says.
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Selling to Government
The Small Business Development Center at Raritan Valley
Community College and the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce will
co-sponsor two procurement workshops on Thursday, February 15, at
8:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. at the community college. Cost: $15 for the
first session, $22 for the second. Call 908-526-1200 extension 8516.
Madeline Britman, director of procurement programs of the New
Jersey Small Business Development Center, will present the two-part
session.
The first session will give an overview of procurement, explaining
the advantages small businesses reap by being registered as a small
business vendor. Differences in state and federal procurement
procedures
also will be discussed. The second session will be more detailed,
including information on how to gain access to agency contracts,
eligibility
rules for vendors, and how to sell goods and services to the state
and federal governments. Representatives of the U.S. Small Business
Administration and the New Jersey Commerce Division will participate
in this session.
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For College Bound
For those trying to plan for college expenses, a
toll-free
hotline at 800-792-8670 has answers on financial aid and scholarship
searches. Links to sites offering information on aid sources are
included
on the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority website.
Especially
helpful sites include www.mapping-your-future.org, an award-winning
college planning website; www.fastweb.com, which provides students
with free college scholarship search assistance; and www.finaid.com,
a comprehensive annotated collection of information about student
financial aid.
Scott B. Freedman, executive director of the New Jersey Higher
Education Student Assistance Authority has these tips for New Jersey
residents:
earnings
are free of state tax and federal tax is deferred when savings are
used for higher education expenses.
students
awards of up to the full cost of tuition to attend an in-state college
or university.
on SAT scores and/or class rank. The Garden State Scholarship Program
offers a renewable $1,000 scholarship in the form of an Edward J.
Bloustein Distinguished Scholar or Urban Scholar Award. The
Outstanding
Scholar Recruitment Program provides a sizable campus-based
scholarship
ranging from $2,500 to $7,500.
In addition to federal loans, New Jersey has a supplementary student
loan program, NJCLASS (New Jersey College Loans to Assist State
Students). Residents or non-residents attending a New Jersey
college
may borrow up to the full cost of college.
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For Developers
Developers building or rehabilitating rental housing
for low income residents are eligible for federal Low Income Housing
Tax Credits. The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency will
allocate approximately $12.3 million in tax credits this year. The
agency will hold free all-day training seminars for developers on
Thursday, February 8, or Friday, February 9, at 8:30 a.m. at 637 South
Clinton Avenue in Trenton. Call 609-278-7578.
The seminars will include a legislative update, a review of the
proposed
2001 QAP, social service opportunities, and the top 10 tax credit
issues. State programs, including the Department of Community Affairs
Balanced Housing program and HMFA’s multi-family financing programs,
will be discussed. Representatives of syndication firms, including
Apollo Capital, Boston Capital, Columbia Housing/PNC, ESCI, First
Union, Intrust, Lehman Brothers, NEF, NW Financial, Related Capital,
the Richman Group, Sterling Financial, and WNC will be available.
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Innovation Garden State
Innovation Garden State, an initiative to attract new
businesses to New Jersey and to promote the state as a high tech
center,
has named fundraising co-chairs. They are Frank Ianna, president
of AT&T Network Services and Richard Lane, president of
Bristol-Myers
Squibb Worldwide Medicines Group. Innovation Garden State is an
initiative
of Prosperity New Jersey, a non-profit, private/public partnership.
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Corporate Angels
Sovereign Bank is helping underwriting a fund-raising art auction
for the Child Care Connection on Saturday, March 10, at 7 p.m. at
the Kirby Arts Center, Lawrenceville School. CCC is a nonprofit
resource and referral agency that provides recruiting and technical
assistance to potential day care providers and also offers childcare
training (609-737-9243). Patron tickets are available at $25, but
other tickets are $10 per person, $15 per couple.
Donations have also been made by McCarter Theater, Shear Magic,
Amici’s
Restaurant, Wegman’s Market, Hyatt Regency, Marriott Hotel, George
Street Theater, TJ’s Trattoria, Chazam’s, Alpha Books, Edo Sushi,
Marazzo’s Market, Custom Woodwork & Design, China Chef, Sovereign
Arena, and Lamberti’s Restaurant.
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