If I like a product and I tell my baby boomer girlfriends, chances are pretty good that they will try the product at least once.  That’s the power of word-of-mouth advertising.  It’s one of the most powerful means of advertising.  Why?  Because a girlfriend’s recommendation is a trusted source.

A new study out indicates that fact.  Prevention Magazine teamed up with the Keller Fay Group to study the influence of WOM.  The study, involving some 14,000 women, found that baby boomer women have a higher quality of WOM than younger women.  This means, what boomer women say is more credible and we’re more likely to pass on each other’s recommendations.  We’re also more likely to purchase based on those recommendations.

Beauty and Personal Care products seem to stimulate the most conversation among baby boomer women according to the survey. The top 10 beauty brands talked about are: 1. Olay, 2. Dove, 3. Avon, 4. Pantene, 5. Suave, 6. Bath & Body Works, 7. Mary Kay, 8. Crest, 9. L’Oreal, and 10. Revlon.   

Another interesting piece of information to come out of the survey was the top 10 packaged brands we supposedly talk about:  1. Kraft, 2. Stouffers, 3. Campbell’s, 4. Lean Cuisine, 5. Kellogg’s, 6. Tyson, 7. Weight Watchers, 8. Gerber, 9. Healthy Choice, and 10. Betty Crocker.

While word-of-mouth advertising is effective, it can also have an opposite impact.  Companies on this list must stand up and take notice as to what boomer women are interested in and they must listen to our voices.  That means making a conscious effort to advertise to us directly and not rely on a survey.  Show us you KNOW us because word-of- mouth can also lead to BOYCOTTS!

In today’s economy, some women have decided it might be in their best financial interest to go back into the Corporate World as opposed to trying build upon their Entrepreneurial spirit.

Despite the gloomy picture being forecast by the media, there are jobs out there but you just have to know where to look.  One avenue is through online business networking.  That’s right.  Web communities like LinkedIn and Facebook are changing the way employees are being hired.   LinkedIn, for example, offers professional profiles, the networking component, an answers section and company profiles. These features can help jobseekers find jobs or perhaps meet someone at a company they have targeted in a job search.

Networking is about building relationships, and online networking can make strengthening connections surprisingly easy. 

If you prefer not to network, you can also find job opportunities through other websites such as careerbuilder.com.  As a matter of fact, I found this job recently:

Bloomingdale’s is seeking a Creative Project Planner for Bloomingdale.com.  The primary responsibility for this position is to manage the workflow of the Creative Department and across several departments to insure successful delivery of projects. You will create, manage, update and enforce project schedules.  To learn more visit:  Careerbuilder.com

Xerox is looking for a PR Communications Specialist in Norwalk, CT.

Responsibilities include:

?  Coordinate communications activities that range from developing press releases and developing media outreach plans to assisting with special events and the production of corporate publications.

?  Produce multi-media forms of communication to tell Xerox’s stories via video, podcasts, blogs, Web, and more. Identify areas for Xerox to turn up the volume through social networking, like Facebook and Wikis.  To learn more, check out PR News Online

With each passing day, it seems as though the way we do business moves further away from the traditional.  That’s why it’s more important than ever to brushen up on your computer skills so you won’t miss out on a great opportunity.

Women in home-based businesses all over the world are using the internet as an invaluable marketing tool. Virtually any product or service can be sold through a good internet marketing plan and promotion.

The types of products customers may be interested in include ebooks, white papers, special reports, or an ongoing subscription programs. These information products can generate substantially higher profit margins than product sales since associated costs are minimal. To find out and develop products other people want, conduct a survey.

Selling products is not the only way to make money on the Internet. Let your website be an information portal with the purpose of providing information about a particular topic.  The value of your information can be a way to sell ad space to merchants with related products.  It becomes a win-win situation.  They get exposure for their product (and potential sales) and in return you get income by selling the ad space. 

Another option for generating income is to set up a storefront on your website.  You can choose to sell a selection of products, using your website as an online catalog and order-taking center.  Software, books and music top the list of most widely purchased products through online venues. You might consider acting as a broker or distributor for products produced by another individual or company.  Crafters and other artists often seek such channels through which to sell their wares.  Other venues for obtaining products include trade shows, wholesalers, and local businesses that would like a wider customer base.  

Affiliate marketing is another income avenue.  Affiliates display ads or links for a merchant on their site.  When visitors use the link to make a purchase from that merchant, the affiliate is paid a commission. 

As a woman in business, you have a number of options to make money on the internet while using ecommerce. Many of these options also provide business owners options to consider beyond selling a product online.  A wide variety of opportunities today make it possible for any woman business owner to succeed.

So here’s to your success!

Special Guest Post by:  Wendy Y. Bailey

     Many think of becoming an entrepreneur but not many catch hold to becoming CEO. Have I confused you? If so, don’t worry because that is definitely not my goal. Just know that there is definitely a difference in the two as evidenced by the entrepreneurs who bring in CEOs to help them run their business. What’s the difference between the entrepreneur and the CEO? How does the entrepreneur become the CEO? What are the challenges and opportunities they face?

In this series, I’ll talk about what it takes to go from Entrepreneur to CEO as well as the challenges and opportunities of making the shift. The first thing that is important to consider is what it means to be an Entrepreneur verses what is means to be a CEO

·         So just what is an Entrepreneur? You can actually define the term two ways.

One definition states that an entrepreneur is a person of very high aptitude who pioneers change. This feat requires that the entrepreneur possess characteristics found in only a very small fraction of the population. Interesting, right? The other definition says that an entrepreneur is anyone who wants to work for him or herself.

The CEO, or Chief Executive Officer, is often but not always also the President of a company, and is responsible for a firm’s overall operations and performance. He or she is the leader of the firm, serves as the main link between the board of directors and the firm’s various parts or levels, and is held solely responsible for the firm’s success or failure. One of the major duties of a CEO is to maintain and implement corporate policy, as established by the board.

Have you figured out the difference yet? If you are an entrepreneur, who has not transitioned yet, I sure hope that you see the picture I’m painting.

The Entrepreneur is the one who gets things going. He or she is the one with the vision and the passion and skill to launch the business. However, it is the CEO who makes it all tick and work, like a well oiled machine. Perhaps this is why 95% of entrepreneur efforts fail in the first 5 years. They fail to grab hold of the CEO hat and never take the time to learn how to effectively implement the vision for success.

The truth is I’m transitioning from entrepreneur to CEO. Even though, I’m well into the transition, the journey is quite challenging! Through this series, I will share information that I’ve found helpful for the transitioning entrepreneur as well as my personal insights. A few of the topics will be:

•  
  • Why managing your health is important to your shift from Entrepreneur to CEO
  • How to create a plan of action that incorporates your vision and high level steps you’ll take to realize the vision.
  • Why you should partner with people who share an equal level of respect for you, your programs and services.
  • Surround yourself with people who have skills that you don’t have so you are able to create a win-win relationship for sharing in the work.

Who knows where this series will lead! Grab pen and paper to take notes as this will be a great series to learn from. And by all means comment and share your thoughts on this concept. I look forward to growing and learning with you.

Wendy Y. Bailey is Creator of Group Mastery: group coaching for coaches, consultants, speakers and other solo-professionals.  Visit her website:  WendyYBailey

Are you where you want to be at this point in your life?  Maybe the better question is, are you where you think you ought to be?  At midlife, many of us come to a crossroads where we are trying to figure out what direction we should go in next.

When I turned 40, I found myself headed in a new direction.  It wasn’t necessarily by choice but I felt a light bulb go off in my head and open my eyes so I could see a lot clearer.  After an ugly divorce, the loss of my job and some friendships, I knew I had two choices: 

1)  I could wallow in self-pity

2)  I could pick myself up and keep stepping to the sound of a different beat

Eleven years later, I have a new wonderful husband, a smaller circle of friends, an entrepreneurial spirit and a new passionate attitude about life.  I decided it was time to UNPACK THAT JUNK IN MY TRUNK!

No one goes through life problem free. The question is, how do you handle your circumstances? Do you try to ignore them and hope they’ll go away or do you allow yourself to nearly drown in a self-made pity pool?

Paul in the Bible was faced with constant challenges and opposition. In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 he said, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed…”

Every opposition in your life carries an opportunity for you to learn, live or give.

Ask yourself the following questions when you’re facing some type of opposition:

1. What can I learn about myself from this situation? (What attitudes, character traits, choices, etc. does this situation reveal about me?)

2. How should I live in the face of the challenge? (Choose courage, faith, love, hope, etc.)

3. What can I give in the situation? (Give yourself another chance, give your time to help someone else, give the gift of forgiveness for some offense, give up your own pride, give up on negative thinking)

One final note, challenges are a part of life’s lessons designed to make you stronger and wiser not only in your personal and spiritual life but in your business dealings as well.

So girlfriend, what are you still packing that you need to let go of?

If you are a middle-aged woman, this is a fashion no-no:

       Don’t wear tight skinny jeans

       Don’t wear graphic t-shirts

       Don’t wear big plastic jewelry

       Don’t dress like your mother

       Don’t dress like your daughter

Unfortunately, baby boomer women have a tough task in finding age-appropriate clothing that doesn’t make them look like their parents–or their kids. According to a survey conducted by Mintel, a market intelligence firm, more than half of the baby boomer respondents said there is a major lack of retailers carrying appealing merchandise, and one-third said stores catering to their demographic have unstylish clothing.

Why is it so hard for baby boomer women to find a decent clothing line?  Why isn’t someone catering to our needs?  A recent article in The New York Times indicated Boomers spend $43 billion a year on apparel.  So it would stand to reason that some retailer would jump all over the chance to be handsomely rewarded by the millions of baby boomer women who are eager to look good from head to toe. But so far, it’s not happening.

When was the last time you went shopping and found the cutest outfit—only to discover it wasn’t in your size?  Or how about finding a nice suit in your size—but for some reason the skirt (or pants) doesn’t fit the way it ought to.  These are some of the ongoing problems baby boomer women face when it comes to fashion. 

No, we’re not trying to let it all hang out anymore but we’re also not ready to be sent into the convent. We have come into our own and the clothes we wear should reflect that. We’re classy, some of us are a little sassy and we’re sophisticated. If we’re in the boardroom, there’s a certain type of look we should have with clothing material that won’t have us sweating like pigs during a hot flash.  If we’re going out for a night on the time, we want to look stylish and sexy.   

I will admit I am one of those women who is still hanging onto too many clothes that I will probably never fit into again—but I just can’t force myself to give them away.  Besides, with the choices that are currently on the market, vigorous exercise may be my best option.

What do Indra Nooyi, Pat Woertz and Oprah have in common? They are among Fortune Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008. What drives and sustains successful female leaders like them?

According to a study conducted by McKinsey & Company, to be successful as a woman in business, you need to have the five important attributes.  Thanks to Harvey Schachter for posting the findings.  

Meaning

You must find your own strengths and put them to work in the service of an inspiring purpose. Meaning enables people to push themselves to the limit. If you find and stick with your strengths in a job, you’ll be happier and more productive.

Managing Energy

You need to know where your energy comes from, where it goes, and what you can do to manage it. Today’s executives work long hours, and many women come home to a “second shift” managing household tasks. “We’ve found that work-life balance is a myth - so the only hope women have is to balance their energy flows,” the consultants observe. “This means basing your priorities on the activities that energize you, both at work and at home, and actively managing your resources to avoid dipping into reserves.” Identify the conditions and situations that replenish your energy, and space out your energy- sapping tasks through the day instead of bundling them all into a single morning or afternoon.

Positive framing

You must adopt a more constructive way to view your world, expand your horizons, and gain the resilience to move ahead even when bad things happen. That doesn’t mean being unrealistic. Optimists, research shows, are not afraid to frame the world as it is, because they are confident they can manage its challenges and lead their team to action. The key is self-awareness. If a meeting goes badly, for example, limit your thoughts to the temporary and specific impact, keep your thoughts impersonal, and move on.

Connecting

You must identify who can help you grow, build stronger relationships, and increase your sense of belonging. People with strong networks and good mentors enjoy more promotions, higher pay, and greater career satisfaction. They feel a sense of belonging, which makes their lives more meaningful. “The leaders we interviewed also talked about the importance of having individual relationships with senior colleagues willing to go beyond the role of mentor - someone willing to stick out his or her own neck to create opportunity for, or help, a protégé,” the consultants say. Since women who promote their interests vigorously are seen as aggressive, unco-operative and selfish, such sponsors are vital for female leaders to get ahead.

Engaging

You must find your own voice, becoming self-reliant and confident by accepting opportunities and the inherent risks they bring, as well as collaborating with others. Hard luck won’t necessarily bring its own rewards so women must create their own luck, taking ownership of opportunities. It starts by finding your voice - making sure after you learn enough about issues and situations that you also speak out. The women interviewed for the study also accept risk as part of opportunity, and are willing to take sharp career detours when necessary.

Anyone who has ever put on a conference or other type of event will tell you, “It ain’t easy!” From the moment you decide on the huge undertaking, you have to be prepared for the unexpected, be ready to put out fires and learn how to wear many different hats—especially if you’re operating with a very small budget.

As a woman in business, I was inspired to put on a Business Boot Camp for Women conference.  With the support and encouragement of Dr. Stan Fine–The Business Doctor–I went to work for several months in making this event happen.

Here’s what I learned in the process:

1) You can’t do it all: If you know you’re not an Event Planner, don’t give yourself a quick “how to” lesson because it won’t work. You may accomplish a few things but the experienced Planners know how to get things done that you may not. That’s because they get paid to do what they do and they want to do it well enough for you to use their services again or refer them.

Hiring an Event Planner can be tough if you’re operating with little or no capital so try to find someone who would be willing to accept cash and some type of barter exchange. You may offer a speaker opportunity at your event as well as a free vendor table so they may promote their business.

2) Promote, Promote, Promote: Although I have an upper hand when it comes to getting media exposure, I discovered even more ways to publicize my Event. Many local daily and weekly newspapers will post events for free. In my case they did a cut and paste of exactly what I sent them, which turned into a nice little write-up with a big, bold headline. Make sure you also utilize CraigsList and your online communities. Months before your event happens, you should begin building a coalition of connections in your area on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Then you can start getting the word out through them.

3) Don’t count on your friends: Friendship is one thing. Business is another. Don’t expect your friends to promote for you or even show up for your event. If I stopped speaking to the number of so-called friends who didn’t support my event, I’d have to start all over again in making some new friends. Friends will disappoint you if you rely on them—so DON’T!

4) Maintain your cool: There may be times when people will get on your last nerve. They will promise to help you and then not do it. Sponsorships will fall through and things will start to feel overwhelming. You may want to scream and curse to release the mounting frustration but, whatever you do, don’t do it in public. There’s an old saying, “Never let ‘em see you sweat!”

After the Event is over, take some time to take a hard look at what went right—what went wrong and learn from the mistakes. Then you can scream if you need to—but not in public

5) Don’t promise what you can’t deliver: Last year, a friend of mine told me about a conference she went to in Los Angeles. This conference was supposed to be the launch of a nationwide conference tour. There was a lot of promotion around it with major sponsors and it was billed as the BIG event for the $397 registration fee. People deemed “major national speakers” were supposed to headline the event. After the event, my friend told me the conference was a BUST because the organizer did not deliver on any of the promises she made. I also learned sponsors were bilked out of their money and there were plenty of unsatisfied attendees. Bottom line: Don’t create hype if you can’t back it up with the real deal.

6) Quality not Quantity: Surround yourself with quality people who not only want to ensure your success, but their own success as well. They must see your vision and believe in it. That means finding speakers who see your event as a vested interest. They should feel they have as much to gain (or lose) as you do by participating.

Speaking of speakers, when looking for them, make sure you do your homework. If you’re doing an event that’s geared for a local audience, make sure some of your speakers are known by your audience. It’s you’re trying to reach a national audience, try to secure at least one speaker the majority of your audience will know.

6) Choose the right venue: It’s always hard to gauge how many people to expect for an event in the beginning. That’s why I recommend choosing a place that gives you a number of different sized meeting rooms. Always start out small and find out right up front if you can change the room size as the registrations pick up. What sense does it make to hold your event in a space designed for 200 people when you only have 30 attendees?

7) Learn how to measure success: When I planned my first event last year, I was extremely disappointed at the turnout. I lost several thousand dollars and went into a state of depression for a few weeks. But then I started receiving emails from the people who attended. They told me how much fun they had and what an impact it had made on their lives. That’s when I began to realize that the success of your event cannot always be measured by the profit margin in the end. If you’ve made a difference in the life of just one person—if they heard your call to action and decided to ACT—then you have truly been a success!

If you have any other suggestions on successful event planning, please share them.

Marketing in Uncertainty:  Funding Your Marketing efforts when it Matters Most

Special Guest Writer:  Olalah Njenga

When economic conditions are turbulent, many business owners scale back on their marketing spending and shift their attention to their sales force. Typically, the sales force in turn, is expected to produce more, albeit with fewer marketing resources at hand.

Unfortunately, this scenario is more common than not, and often with tragic results for both the company and the company’s customers. The hard truth is simply this, when economic conditions are uncertain, it is the optimum time to increase your marketing spending and be outlandishly creative with your marketing efforts.

Marketing during economic uncertainty gives business owners an opportunity to stay visible, keep the business top of mind for customers (and prospects) and put the company in a position to capture the spoils once the economy bounces back.

Admittedly, this concept of spending more during economic uncertainty is difficult for some companies to get their hands around, especially when sales are only trickling in at best. Below are a few remedies for this. Unlike some marketing professionals who walked into marketing through creative pursuits, marketing found me via operations. That’s right. I was the person who had to make a dollar out of fifteen cents.

With my operations know-how as a guide, let’s take a look at a few ways to free up financial resources to increase your marketing spending, so that you can focus on selling and serving your customers.

Examine Vendor Relationships.

Remember that during economic uncertainty your company is not alone. Many business owners are feeling the same level of angst that you are. It is during these times that you can test the strength of the relationships that you have with your vendors and service providers. If you are uncomfortable initiating a conversation with your vendors and/or service providers, shop around first. By getting a sense of what your vendor’s competitors are offering, you’ll be better prepared to begin a discussion around the changing needs of your business.

Economic uncertainty is an ideal time to re-negotiate terms and conditions. For instance, if the terms are normally net ten days, see if you can get net 30 days. This will help you delay payables and temporarily free up money that you can re-distribute to your increased marketing efforts. Also, ask your vendors or service providers for the pricing of the next lowest class or type of service. Don’t be shy about asking vendors or service providers about newly launched promotions, price cuts or packages. Remember, your vendors and service providers are under no obligation to help your company spend less money with them.

Prune Poor Performers.

You know that person on your team that just can’t seem to hit performance expectations, but you’ve delayed letting that person go? Don’t delay any longer. The simple truth is that every business has an under-performer that does just enough to stay in the game, but has never hit a home run. For various reasons, documentation on that person’s performance is sketchy at best. As such, you’ve delayed the uncomfortable conversation around letting him/her go.

When economic uncertainty creeps into your business, you are welcome to use this opportunity to separate poor (or par) performers from the company. While this might sound dangerously close to a cop out, in fact, you can separate the person and leave their dignity in tact, as well as alleviate your own uncomfortability with having to walk through his/her not-so-well documented poor performance.

Star performers thrive in uncertainty. They thrive under pressure. Focus on star performers, so that they can focus on results. It goes without saying that the compensation of the separated person should be immediately re-distributed to your marketing budget. Right?

Leverage Technology.

Find out what the average expense report is in your company and ask yourself, how can you shave off twenty percent. Consider the technological advances that are fingertip ready. Is your company leveraging technology to work smarter, or just to work harder? Instead of purchasing laptops, consider desktops with software loaded that allows employees to access work from anywhere. Consider videoconferencing instead of travel. Consider IP based phone calls instead of hardwired telecommunications.

The point is to squeeze every ounce of usefulness out of every piece of technology the company owns. Most people only use a quarter of the capabilities of any device. Ensure that technology is helping your company stay competitive, work smarter and keeping the cost of doing business at a minimum. When you’re marketing in uncertainty, every dollar counts.

Get A Cash Infusion.

Depreciated office equipment, outdated (but usable) software and overstocked office supplies. What do these items have in common? Money for marketing. If you can put a price tag on it, then sell it. Sell it on Craigslist. Sell it on eBay. Have an employee auction. Just sell it! Don’t have anything to sell? Sublease an unused office or conference room. Marketing in uncertainty means you’ve got to free up cash to help you fund additional marketing efforts right now.

A cash infusion can help your company fund a customer appreciation day, buy box seats to an event for a top tier client, or pay for a day’s rental of a mobile billboard that drives around the city with your company’s name all over it.

Make Marketing A Priority.

From the mail room to the Board Room, get everyone on board with marketing initiatives. Don’t allow entry or mid level employees to take a “that’s not my job” attitude. When you make marketing a priority, you can help spark ingenuity in an employee that wants to contribute in a bigger way, but perhaps didn’t feel his/her voice was valuable.

Have a contest for the best marketing idea under one thousand dollars, or under one hundred dollars, depending on your marketing budget. The point is to get everyone involved in the role of marketing. Don’t allow employees to focus only on their day to day tasks. Ensure that you are sending a message throughout your company that marketing is everyone’s priority.

Whether you have three employees, or three hundred, as the business owner, you are the company’s greatest sales person and its best marketer. Anything and everything you can do to create customer loyalty, maintain employee enthusiasm and reduce expenses, will help your company thrive during economic uncertainty - so you can get back to the business of business.

About The Author:
Olalah Njenga is the CEO and senior marketing analyst at YellowWood Group, LLC, a strategic marketing firm specializing in long range, profit focused marketing initiatives for growing and mid-sized companies. As a member of the National Speakers Association, Olalah speaks on a variety of topics including strategic marketing, competitive analysis, profitability, brand equity and differentiation. Olalah is also the creator of the Marketing With Ease™ Self Coaching Kit for solo professionals. Olalah can be reached at 919.783.4101 or via email at: onjenga@yellowwoodgroup.com.

Guest Writer:  Lea Moore

If you are a wise business woman, who wants to succeed, you will put your egomaniacal tendencies on the back burner and surround yourself with brilliant people, of different personalities, backgrounds and cultures. In the long run, listening to what wise people have to say will make your endeavors a huge success.

In my years as a business owner, doing business with other small business owners, I have run across many people who have done just the opposite. They surround themselves with those who answer “yes” to everything and have no creativity of their own. This is done, as far as I can tell, out of pure vanity. No one wants to be told that the way they are doing things could be improved. But those type of people, the egomaniacs, are only hurting themselves.

We all have to remember our main reason for being in business. It is to make money. If our egos get in the way of our growth, we should really try to tame our egos.

Does it really make sense to hire a moderately intelligent sales person because you know they won’t challenge your techniques, when you could hire an inexperienced, dynamic personality with an IQ of 140 who will bring out the best (and maybe even the worst) in you?

Of course, we always want to hire the best accountants, attorneys, information technologists, marketing representatives, advertising firms and so forth. But what about your secretary, your administrative assistant, the entry-level office personnel?

The fact that a person has chosen one profession over another doesn’t mean they don’t have something to offer. Even the receptionist may have a brilliant mind for a particular facet of your business and if you listen to her ideas, sort through them, take what she has to offer and put it to use, it might just generate additional revenue.

Being the owner of a small business can be tasking at times. Entrepreneurs have a tendency to want to do everything themselves and to supervise every little detail. Surround yourself with brilliance and you might just be able to trust someone enough to handle the details while you work on making the business grow.

How can you conduct business via voice mail—especially if all you’re doing is leaving a message?  Good question.  Dr. Stan Fine, author of the book Business Boot Camp for Women, says it all starts using the right words to ensure the person on the other end will call you back.

According to Dr. Stan, you can use these seven techniques immediately to dramatically improve your rate of callbacks when you leave voicemail.  What you’re doing is enabling the recipient with enough detail and reasons so that calling you back just makes good sense.

1. Be brief and get to the point. Don’t begin your voicemail with small talk, jokes or other needless filler words.  Your message may be one of many, so he may be tired of listening when he gets to yours, so get right down to business.  Identify yourself and the purpose of calling.

2. Put the call into context.  Say something immediately after your greeting that puts you and your importance in the mind of the listener.  She may not remember you if you just met once or twice, so give her a reference.  The listener is always thinking, “Who the heck are you and why should I return your call?”  If they asked for the call, make sure you say so. Bad:  “Hello Ms. Watson.  I’m calling today to let you know of our great new line of…” Better:  “Hi Ms. Watson.  This is Karl Walinskas.  We met last Tuesday at the Internet trade show in Chicago at my company’s booth, The Speaking Connection.  I’m following up on your request to…”

3. Given the listener a reason to reply.  What does the call recipient get if he gets back to you?  Pleasant conversation?  A special offer?  Offer something compelling that makes the listener want to get back to you for his own good.  Everyone wants to know what’s in it for me, so provide the listener with an answer to that question.

Bad:  “I’d like you to call me back so we can discuss…”

Better:  “I’m holding the cruise dates for 24 hours until I hear from you.  Call me by tomorrow to book your vacation or plan something else.”

4. Time stamp the message. Most voicemail systems have automatic time stamps, but don’t rely on them.  I never listen to them because the electronic voice is annoying, and many answering machines don’t have a time stamp.  Let the person know the day and time you called and more importantly, when she can call you back.  Provide a window for the return call that is accurate but not too restrictive.

Bad:  “We need to talk on the medical account.  Call me anytime to discuss.”

Better:  “I’m calling on Thursday around 3 pm.  I can be reached in my office tomorrow from 10 to 1 in the afternoon at 555-1212.  Please call to discuss…”

5. Let the listener know how to reach you. Simple right?  Give the listener a phone number for a return call and an alternate like a digital phone that’s always with you.  If you’re never around and don’t have a mobile phone (like me for years), use the convenience of email technology to let her know an email address that she can reply to that you can be sure to get.

Bad:  “Call me back so we can get to it.”

Better:  “I can be reached at 555-1212 from 3-5 today, or at my mobile number of 555-2121 anytime.  You can also get me through email at ssfine60@yahoo.com I check it regularly.”

6. Provide Instructions. Tell the listener exactly what you want him to do.  For business calls, discussion isn’t good enough.  What is this person needed for?  The “I need” phrase is the most powerful two words in the English language, so use it.

Bad:  “Call me back so we can discuss the Warren account.”

Better:  “I need your approval on the final contract to propose to Mr. Warren for the half-million dollar widget order.”

7. Explain the consequences of not calling back. This is a great call-return-getter that most people don’t use.  Think of the cruise example earlier, with the implied consequence of losing the trip reservation unless a return call was made.  If you can, be explicit.

Bad:  “Honey, call me back about the groceries you wanted me to pick up.”

Better:  “Honey, call me back to let me know if you wanted skim milk or whole milk.  If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume you found other nourishment and no longer wish for me to pick up groceries.  Bye-bye!”

Ladies, a word of caution:  Don’t try to come across as sexy or alluring.  Just state your message firmly.