Buyers have become more cognizant of what they are buying because money is becoming a finite resource for many companies. More importantly, they invest their money where it will give them a quick and seamless ROI. Buyers’ BS meters are finely tuned; I can’t blame them.

Gone are the days of expendable cash and resources; in are the days of “lean.” Therefore, it is important to understand that the climate will affect the way you market and sell.

For instance, if you were to sell to the analytical side of the brain while times are good, this approach won’t work in today’s environment. Many buyers have emotions and fear about what is going on in our economy, as a sales person you have to recognize this and change your approach.

As a leader with more than 15 years of experience in sales, here are six solid tips to improve your selling approach:

1. Be Passionate: Care about the product you are selling and stand behind it.
2. Know your Buyers: Discover what drives your buyers, such as their personal and professional dreams.
3. Connect with Buyers: Align your approach with those dreams.
4. Be Genuine. Care about the people you are selling to; everyone has a unique and helpful story.
5. ‘Do Work Son’: Leave your place of employment feeling emotionally and physically drained. (That means you left it all on the field.)
6. Have Integrity. In every word written, spoken or promised be honest and do it right.

Emotion is one quality all of these tips have which empowers you to connect with your buyers and serve them more effectively.

How do you sell differently today (than you did before)? Share your advice and tips in the comments.

Another time, I created a small business, grew it, and sold it for a handsome amount and a sweet management contract, only to find weeks later the acquiring company was mired in fraudulent activities and I had to unwind the deal.

I also had a lot of successes along the way and ended up here, an organization that perfectly blends with my DNA and has a dream to revolutionize the way small businesses grow.

For years, I’ve been wanting to write a book about certain experiences detailing what I learned so that other entrepreneurs can understand the pitfalls and key success principles without having to go through what I lived. In addition, I wanted to give them plenty of samples, templates and ideas. After a year of work, re-works and revisions, it’s finished!

I feel very passionate about the book and want as many small business owners and entrepreneurs as possible to experience it — so I’ve decided to self-publish my thoughts, passions and ideas as an ebook titled, Master of the Moment.

I encourage you to download my book, read it thoroughly and share your thoughts here about it.

Thanks,
Dave

The old way of consuming software was going to the local store, buying a boxed version of a program, run home, open up the CD case with excitement, install it and use it. This was fine, but it also had its fair share of limitations. Software updates often would require you to go out and repeat the same process. In addition, installed software often has issues with individual computer configurations. Ultimately, these traditional software installations caused users frustration, experienced longer delays between updates and tech support hassles.

Software-as-a-Service, abbreviated “SaaS,” describes the way people use an application where it is primarily hosted by someone else and is delivered through the Web. Examples of this include our software, Google Docs, Yahoo/Live/AOL Webmail, Joomla or WordPress. It’s a large category — but the thing that’s common is that people can use these applications and never have to download any software to their computers.

For fresh perspective, I dropped by the product management room and asked Brad and Scott for their thoughts on why a SaaS is better than traditional software. “The thought of having an IT staff is not a possibility,” says Scott Martineau, “that’s the big benefit for small business.”

Brad Martineau added, “Small business owners don’t know about servers or any of that mess; they need reliability, security and accessibility. With a hosted experience, users can get just that.”

He continued, “At the end of the day, I want access to my crap, I need something that works for me while I sleep and while I watch Dora the Explorer with my kids. That’s what works.” Brad explained that he doesn’t want to worry about backing up stuff, and neither do our users.

An argument (or rogue benefit) against choosing SaaS is that a third party possesses your data. The drawback is that you can’t move this data easily. The benefit is no headache and an inherent responsibility on the provider to keep your information safe and secure. Providers often empower users to export data on demand, to address this critique. (For the record, we’re certified PCI Compliant, meaning your customer data is very safe.)

SaaS applications are here to stay. Just some food for thought to the naysayers on SaaS … software companies who had their roots deep in the traditional software market have migrated their offerings to SaaS. Intuit has a very extensive, reliable and powerful tax application on the Web through TurboTax, and Microsoft is migrating many Office features on the Web with Office Live.

I believe a hosted Web application is better because users receive frequent updates, better support and are able to access it anywhere. Our users have it good; all they need is Firefox to use our software. No plugins, downloads or hassles. People pay for SaaS models because of the support, reliability and the nifty things they can do. (Like marketing automation, eh?)

I definitely enjoy the speed of installed software sometimes. But I don’t pay for it.

[Image credit: Jeff Kubina on Flickr]

In this guide, I’ll help you bootstrap your own small business software kit for free.

Let’s say you just bought a snazzy new computer and you turn it on, only to find out you have trials and crippleware installed. Not only is that lame, you are left helpless when you need to start building your small business. I mean, you bought the new system to grow your business, not to click buttons on nagware, right? I feel your pain.

Software today has changed significantly from the software yesterday. For one, software has left the CD and more importantly, the hard drive. Now, there is a breed of software known as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), which means simply, a provider is hosting the software and you never need to install it. (Infusionsoft is SaaS, in case you’re wondering.) All SaaS software requires is a Web browser and an Internet connection — that’s why it’s attractive.

Free Software Essentials for Small Businesses

• Mozilla Firefox — Firefox offers the most reliable, safe and speedy experience among all Web browsers. Despite the heated IE vs. Firefox debate, I encourage you to have it installed on your computer and take it out for a spin. It will become very handy the more you use it. Firefox has thousands of addons to help you fully adjust Firefox to your liking.
• Mozilla Thunderbird – If you’d like to use a superior and professional e-mail client, I recommend using Thunderbird. Not only is it faster, it has many addons available to help you extend it further for your small business needs.
• OpenOffice — If you don’t want to dish out $300 for Microsoft Office or have a disdain for that place in Redmond, then use OpenOffice. It’s a free office-suite for anyone to use on any operating system. It has a ton of features like saving in virtually any format needed and exporting into PDF.
• Foxit PDF Reader — A great alternative to Adobe Reader. It’s incredibly fast and is completely free. To compare how much faster it is, download our free PDF, The Edge. (And you’ll enjoy something good to read, too.)
• EDraw Mind Map Free — As you turn your ideas into business processes, marketing campaigns and follow-up sequences, you’ll eventually need to map your ideas out. With Mind Map, you can diagram almost anything, making it a great free alternative to Microsoft Visio.
  UPDATE: A reader pointed out that commercial use of Mind Map Free is not permitted in the EULA, but I suggest giving it a shot and upgrade to the paid version if you like it or use Bubbl.us, as listed below.
• Google Docs — If you’re more of the collaborative type and have a team who you share documents with, Google Docs is probably your bread and butter. Don’t let the name fool you, you can also make powerful spreadsheets, artsy presentations and even create useful Web forms.
• Google Calendar — Google Calendar certainly gives Outlook some competition. You can maintain any number of schedules, setup meetings and collaborate with virtually anyone who has a Google account. (If you happen to use Outlook, then you have to check out Google Calendar Sync.)
• Digsby — If you’re an Instant Messaging diva (or stud), you should manage all your IM needs with one application. Digsby supports many IM and social networks (including LinkedIn!), so you can remain accessible every time you’re on. An honorable mention would also be Pidgin, as it’s open-source.
• Bubbl.us — Online brainstorming/mind-mapping, somewhat like EDraw/Visio, but on the Web.
• Ubuntu – If you’re about to purchase a new computer (or you’re daring), consider using Linux. It’s free as in free speech. Specifically, I suggest to try Ubuntu. It’s free and has very good hardware support and has the essentials for small business bundled right in. Dell offers systems to have Ubuntu included, which can save you about $100 off your next system.

There is a bunch more free software out there, but these are the essentials. Now, your usage may vary, so at least try them out and see how they work for you. If you use one of these and enjoy it, I’ll feel better that I’ve improved your small business computing experience.

Why did I write this, even though we sell marketing automation software? I believe every small business owner and entrepreneur should have these tools. Sure, I’d love if you all jumped on a demo and considered us for your automated follow-up marketing needs, but I believe that it’s important to empower people with the tools to be able to perform the essentials in business. We want to help entrepreneurs, empower and help liberate them. Sometimes, that help is free.

Know of a killer free app that helps you in your small business? Share it in the comments below!

[Image credit: ground*floor on Flickr]

I can’t tell you.

In the eMarketer article, Consumers Opening Fewer E-Mails, they describe a sizable advantage in using shorter subject lines for marketing. I suspect this is due to the fact it requires less time to scan so people assume the e-mail is short and to the point. Of course, I am describing this from my own consumer behavior more than my marketing experience.

“Subject lines of less than 35 characters yielded an average open rate of 19.6% and a 3.1% average click rate. E-mails with subject lines of 35 or more characters drew average open rates of 14.8% and average click rates of 1.9%.”
–eMarketer, “Consumers Opening Fewer E-Mails”

In addition to this statistic, you can’t deny the fact that consumers are relying much less on e-mail as they evolve their technology needs. As evident in the graph below, attention to e-mail has dropped. I firmly believe as e-mail usage drops, RSS and social media adoption will rise. Send every e-mail as if it were your last, as it may very well be.

Regardless, as marketers, we all need to respect and embrace the needs of our consumers. We can do this by setting proper expectations when people opt-in to your e-mail marketing. Just as important, you need to engage with your consumers on an expected, regular fashion — not only blasting your contacts about a sale – interact and share relevant information for what they requested. I suggest for you to read the 10-Round Spam Smack-Down to find out if you’re sending spam and our e-mail best practices, too.

Simply put, do the right thing for your prospects and customers. Respect their time and they will respect yours. Best-case scenario, you make a ton of sales; worst-case scenario, you don’t make a sale. It’s OK. Always test and find out what works in your industry.

Have you found any interesting subject lines that made you open an e-mail? Share them in the comments below so we all can see what works.

[Image credit: idogcow on Flickr]