Understaffed Portland police forced to shutter cold case unit, deal 'devastating' blow for families

Portland Police Bureau Chief Chuck Lovell told employees that he was temporarily shutting down the cold case unit and redirecting staff to create a third homicide detail as the department’s resources have been strained by soaring murders and other major incidents.

US-China cold war and rising protectionism could split world order

Experts say the world may face a "multi-dimensional cold war" as nations are "pressured to take sides" between the U.S. and China.

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Try Some Warmer Cold Calling and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Try Some Warmer Cold Calling and More

Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! Summer’s about over – it’s time for warmer cold calling!

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.

And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!

#10. Upsell Like a Champ

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about upselling. Small Biz Trends says there are some techniques out there which are more effective than not. It’s a bit like warmer cold calling.

25 Percenters

So, here’s an interesting one. Did you know that an offered upsell shouldn’t add more than 25% onto the initial price? But why?

Because otherwise it can feel overwhelming to the customer. This one is truly brilliant. And you see it in practice all the time.

“You want fries with that?”

“For an extra $2, we’ll throw in a pack of pens with your notebook purchase.”

“If you get the sport package, you get a spoiler and a sunroof.”

“Add a salad and we’ll call it a dinner. Then you can get free dessert!”

“Now that you got a new pair of running shoes, wouldn’t you love a new pair of running shorts?”

“Ever notice how when you paint a room, a lot of other things look dull? Buy six gallons of our matte finish latex paint and we’ll throw in a new picture frame.”

You get the idea. It doesn’t work if you offer a second Big Mac (usually). And if you’re already getting an entrée, you probably don’t want a second. But you might be tempted to have a salad. In fact, having a salad translate into a free dessert also takes advantage of people wanting to be virtuous by eating a salad – and then decadent by capping their meal with a hot fudge sundae.

Unbundling

By the way, unbundling can feel weird! Your intrepid blog writer owns a pretty basic car but it’s got a sun roof. And it was quite the chore to get the extra – it had to be specially added. Because sun roofs tend to go with sporty packages, not basic sedans.

Still, I got my sun roof. It was a lot like warmer cold calling in that I was already there and buying. The dealer just had to make sure I was 100% happy so I wouldn’t run off to a dealer down the street.

So try this rule of 25% the next time you’re putting together upselling ideas. And can I have some of your fries?

#9. Scratch ‘Create an Email List’ Off Your To-Do List in an Hour

The next awesome tip is about creating an email list from scratch – fast. Sumo notes it’s easy to get email lists wrong. No argument here.

Now, keep in mind, the article isn’t much more than a long ad for Sumo. But Sumo is free, so we’re okay with that. And it does make one point which we would like to showcase.

Not all of your contacts are alike.

As a result of this insight – which we will be the first to admit isn’t much of an insight – you should be segmenting your email list. We tend to do this intuitively, and we don’t even know we’re doing it.

As in, if your grandmother is in your address book, you probably won’t invite her to go out clubbing with you (or maybe you will…). But your pals from college? You’re a lot more likely to invite them. And you’ll even go more granular. Your quiet roommate might not make the invitation list, but your clubbing partner from back in the day is more likely to.

So the moral of the story is – don’t treat your customers and prospects as one big monolith.

Gee, where have we heard that before?

Warmer Cold Calling Credit Suite

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Leave the sales freezer behind with warmer cold calling and more.

#8. A Lot Better Than Vacation Slides

Our following life-changing tip concerns using Facebook slideshow ads to their fullest potential. Wordstream lays it all out for us.

You’ve probably seen these. In fact, you may not have seen these on Facebook (or been aware that they were what you were seeing). Slideshows.

For example, have you ever been on a site for a clothing retailer and been served both the front and back versions of an outfit? Not separate images – more that the front images change to the back on occasion, and then back again. That’s a slideshow.

For Facebook, one great idea is to showcase variety. If you’re a residential real estate agent, why not show one-family and two-family houses? Or big apartments and studios? Or both the east and west sides of town?

We highly recommend reading the entire article. Yes, it’s that helpful. It’s as good as warmer cold calling – and may even be better.

#7. Great Business Leaders – Are They Born or Made?

For our next sensational tip, we looked at what a new business leader should really be like. Startup Professionals notes a charismatic, innovative leader has certain characteristics.

They looked at people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, but also Elon Musk. And the one characteristic we preferred was doing good works. But our second chance characteristic was lifelong learning.

Hey, you don’t need to be a big time innovator to do either, or both.

#6. Being a Great Boss – An Argument for Nurture Versus Nature

This tip is so cool, and it works! Work It Daily tells us all about developing leadership skills. They note there are some great methods for learning leadership skills. Perhaps our two favorites were all about enthusiasm and knowing yourself.

True Story

Over 20 years ago, your intrepid blog writer worked in the insurance industry. Often, these jobs were dull and repetitious. And that attitude came straight from the top. When management acted uninterested in being there, so did everyone else. Talk about your downers!

Then in 2004, I worked for Dictaphone, in voice recognition (this late lamented company no longer exists). And there things were waaaaaay different. The boss was not just friendly and approachable. She loved her job. And everyone under her caught her fever. We loved working there, and we loved working for her. It all came from her enthusiastic, whole-hearted embrace of our projects.

Want to build voice recognition for lawyers? Awesome! For police officers? Let’s help them catch some criminals. For firefighters? Cool, let’s make their lives easier so they can go back to saving people. For doctors? Terrific – let’s make this chore simple so they can cure cancer and hangnails.

And it goes on.

Want to be a good leader? Then be excited about what you and your team do. And if you aren’t, then maybe you should be considering a new line of work.

#5. Get Out of the Sales Ice Box With Warmer Cold Calling

Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!

Warmer cold calling is where it’s at. LinkedIn says there are a number of things you can do which aren’t cold calling!

We loved these. Now, keep in mind, we are research fans here, so the first tip was a great one. And it’s LinkedIn! Egad, if you’re going to find out stuff about a prospect, then the prospect’s company website (and maybe blog) plus LinkedIn are THE places to go.

The Times, They Are A-Changin’

Be An Innovator Credit SuiteSo here’s a question. When was the last time you saw someone selling door to door? Not people talking religion – real-live salespeople. For your intrepid blog writer, it was maybe eight to ten years ago, possibly more.

I was sitting on the front porch steps, eating ice cream. And this guy was walking past and he said something from the sidewalk. Now, keep in mind, this is a secondary access road, so there’s traffic on it, and it can be loud.

My “What?” was, to him, an invitation to walk up my front walk and try to hand me literature on buying a satellite dish. And here I was thinking he wanted to know how to get to the Thai place on the corner.

So he hands me papers. I had them back. He hands them to me again. And I give them back again. We do this little dance a couple of times. The big recycling bin is nearby, so the next time I get the papers, I toss them in there.

Oh, I got an earful then. Well, guess what, dude? You weren’t welcome. You slid in under false pretenses. And you didn’t listen to me, not one bit.

What the heck did you honestly expect was going to happen?

C’mon Already!

Don’t be that guy. Do your research and know your prospects. Because if this guy had, he would’ve known that my house is over 100 years old and there is no way I am ever putting a dish anywhere near it.

Please don’t write to us about the merits of satellite dishes. Thank you in advance.

Warmer Cold Calling Credit Suite

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Leave the sales freezer behind with warmer cold calling and more.

#4. Time is Running Out to Write Scarcity Emails!

Check out this spectacular tip, all about scarcity marketing techniques to boost email conversions. Sleek Note informs us that you can tap into customer fear of missing out in any number of ingenious ways. Talk about creating what is essentially a form of warmer cold calling!

There’s More Than Way to be Scarce

So the first thing we noticed was there’s more than one way to convey scarcity. Sometimes it’s the scarcity of the product. You know the drill – they tell you they’re about to sell out of something or other. But did you know that adding a number makes the claim more believable?

But there’s another way to show scarcity – it’s a scarcity of time. “Time is running out!” “You’ve got just two hours left to get …”

Yet another way is via exclusivity. This also appeals to customer desires to be and feel special. And they feel they can be seen as special by others. Social currency is absolutely a thing – and for many people, it feels scarce. A lot of folks will do just about anything to have more of it.

NOW.

#3. You Oughta Be in Pictures

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you grow your YouTube channel. Noobpreneur tells us going with a niche is a great strategy. We agree!

Consider this. Do you listen to the radio? It can be in the car or at home or via satellite. Doesn’t matter. But what does matter is the radio doesn’t play just anything. You’re highly unlikely to hear gangsta rap right after a classical piece. And that’s true even if you, personally, like both pieces of music.

This is because the radio is segmented, big time. And maybe a little too much these days. You can get more than one version of 80s music, for example.

So consider such a strategy for YouTube, and don’t try to be all things to all people. Not even Casey Kasem was.

#2. Tapping into Influence

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on how influencers can promote their platforms. Young Upstarts reveals all about it.

The biggest insight we got was to adapt messaging depending on which platform you’re on. And that works for us. In particular, it matters in terms of platforms you’re trying to break into.

If you’re awesome on Facebook, guess what? You need a whole new approach for Snapchat.

Another great idea was to provide something in return for following. Truth is, we do that here.

That’s kinda what this blog is all about, folks.

#1. Dear Sir or Madam: Please Buy Ad Space On My Blog kthxbai

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on getting companies to buy advertising space on your blog. The Work At Home Woman says you, too, can grab this blogging Holy Grail.

One thing the article goes into is working directly with an advertiser versus an ad network. To our eyes, it looks like an ad network is a great way to get started. The network will do the legwork in terms of finding advertisers. But be aware – for most of the ones mentioned, you need 25,000 or more clicks per month on your blog.

Yeah. About that.

Affiliate Marketing

So there’s another way to monetize things, and it doesn’t hinge on clicks. It’s affiliate marketing. That’s where bloggers add (for example) a link to Amazon for selling a book. The link is particular to the blogger so, if you click through and buy the book, the blogger will get a cut of the proceeds. Because you’re there voluntarily, it’s better than warmer cold calling – you’re actually a hot prospect!

But…

Just like for ads, though, recognize one thing. If your blog isn’t uber-popular, you’re not going to make a lot of money. The number of people who do isn’t very large. Still, you can make some mad money with ads and affiliate marketing. After all, there are some ad networks which aren’t looking for such huge blogs with so much traffic (although shop around and do your homework, to make sure the ad network is reputable and will pay you).

Just don’t quit your day job.

So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?

Warmer Cold Calling Credit Suite

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Leave the sales freezer behind with warmer cold calling and more.

The post Try Some Warmer Cold Calling and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.