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Depending on the nature of your business, your customers may spend a lot of time on the phone talking to sales reps, customer service, customer support, etc. If you're looking for a great way to add a personal touch to these interactions, consider posting photos of your sales or support staff on your website, business cards, and other marketing materials.

Employee photos are a compelling way to capture your visitors' attention on your website. More importantly, though, conversion rates increase when people can connect emotionally. Photos are a great way to foster this kind of connection between your customers and staff.

Because people buy from people, they are often curious about who they are speaking with. Photos increase interest in day-to-day interactions and help customers and prospects recognize and remember the members of your team, making them more likely to approach your staff at trade shows or other social events.

In addition to posting individual photos, group photos and candid shots of employees at work are great ways to show off your facility, the various skills you can offer in-house, and the potential bulk of your workforce.

If your business is looking for a great way to relay important messages and create a favorable impression of your company, consider a "message from the owner" (or president, CEO, etc.). Here are a few tips to create a "message" that speaks for itself:

• In addition to creating a standard "mission statement" message from the owner, consider offering regular messages via a company website, newsletter, blog, sales letter, Facebook page, Twitter feed, etc. to communicate new initiatives, announce new products, or simply offer an insightful perspective on a relevant subject.


• Include a photo of the owner/president/CEO. Readers feel more of a connection when they can put a face with a name.


• While the messaging is most effective when it comes from the owner him/herself, consider help from a member of your communications team for message ideas, editing, and wordsmith help.


• In addition to sharing a message with customers, a message from the owner is also a great way to create a sense of community within an organization and narrow the gap between the owner and coworkers.


• Encourage feedback and open lines of communication whenever possible. A forum where customers or coworkers can ask questions and receive a response from the owner can be a powerful marketing tool. Consider highlighting questions and responses as topics for the messages.

What better way to offer a glimpse into your quality products, services, and support than with a risk-free trial or evaluation? Depending on your product, a free trial is not only an effective marketing tool to increase interest and expand your customer base, but it also helps establish rapport with potential customers and shows them your product or service is valuable and worth purchasing. Here are a few tips for offering a free trial:

• Set a clear time frame for your trial offer, such as a 30 or 60-day evaluation period.


• Consider a first-time discount if the user decides to purchase from you, as well as a referral program that offers coupons with a trial to pass along to friends.


• Avoid scaring away potential customers by asking only for necessary information when signing up for the free trial.


• Don't spam those who provide information. Offer an option to sign up for promotions if they are interested.


• Notify users before the trial ends to avoid sharp cutoffs or automatic billing.


• Lastly, think of a free trial program as a way to improve your products or services. You can gain valuable feedback from those who choose not to purchase from you.

What four-letter word do internet users hate the most? Spam. Everyone is annoyed by unsolicited e-mail messages promoting miracle diets, get rich quick schemes, amazing beauty products, and more. Believe it or not, your behavior has likely played a big role in determining who has access to your e-mail address, including spammers. Here are a few ways to reduce the amount of spam attacking your inbox:

• Preview your messages before you open them. If you can tell that the message is spam simply from the subject line, don't open it â?? simply delete it. Many e-mail accounts allow you to use a preview mode to peek at the contents of a message before actually opening it. In Outlook, go to View>Preview Pane. Click the message just once to view the message in your preview pane without opening it.
• Never respond to spam messages. If you reply or even click the "unsubscribe" link, it informs your spammer that you read your mail and your address is valid. As a result, you may receive even more junk mail.
• Don't click links in a spam e-mail. Spammers can often identify that you (and only you) clicked their link because of multiple unique pages on their sites.
• Don't forward e-mails from someone you don't know to a list of people in your address book. Spammers love to harvest e-mail addresses from the "forward this to 20 of your friends" e-mail messages, even when the sender of the original e-mail didn't intend for this to happen.
• Opt out. If you register your e-mail at a web site that sends out commercial messages, they should give you a choice whether you want to receive e-mail from the site or its third party partners. Always check the NO box.
• Protect your e-mail address. Reserve a private e-mail address that is given out only to friends, family, etc. Create a separate e-mail address to request more information, post on discussion groups, web sites, blogs, chat rooms, or anything else that is posted on the web.
• Never use e-mail addresses as your screen name. This makes it very easy for web crawlers to find your address.
• Use spam filters. Many e-mail programs have built-in tools to block messages sent from certain e-mail addresses or filter messages based on keywords you define. In Outlook, click on Actions>Junk E-mail>Add Sender to Blocked Senders List.
• Remove your e-mail address from directories. To prevent your e-mail address from being harvested from people finder services such as Yahoo! People Search and other directories that are goldmines for spammers, ask them to remove your name from their directory. Or update your address using your "public" e-mail address instead of your "private" friends/family account.

If you're looking for creative ways to reach your target audience without annoying them via spam messages, stop by today! Our team can help you develop marketing ideas that your prospects and clients are sure to love. Joe Gass, President Heritage Printing and Graphics 5900 Harris Technology Blvd, Ste G Charlotte, North Carolina 704-910-9914 www.heritageprintingcharlotte.com